The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Miami Hurricanes 27-21 to capture the national championship while also staying undefeated at 16-0, becoming the first team with that record to win the Natty in the CFP era. This has drawn comparisons to the 2019 LSU team that won the national championship undefeated as well, winning it with a 15-0 record and led by Joe Burrow.
One person who remembers LSU’s undefeated run to the top is former Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Micah Parsons, who was still playing college football when Joe Burrow led the Tigers to the Natty. He sounded off on the LSU-Indiana comparisons, as well as the comparisons between Fernando Mendoza and Joe Burrow, and he is not buying it. He took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice his opinions and disagreeing with many people:
“Indiana might win, but ball knowers, I better never hear a comparison to Joe Burrow and that LSU team to this Indiana unit,” he tweeted out.
Parsons, whose season was cut short due to injury, was still a sophomore at Penn State when Joe Burrow won the Heisman and led LSU to an undefeated national championship run. The comparison between Burrow and Fernando Mendoza was made because both quarterbacks won the Heisman while also leading their respective teams to the national championship being undefeated during the same year.
Joe Burrow vs. Fernando Mendoza Comparisons: Who Had Better Stats?
There are plenty of similarities between Joe Burrow and Fernando Mendoza, especially with how they ended their college football careers as Heisman winners and having an undefeated run to win the Natty. However, how do their stats compare?
As a senior, Joe Burrow had 527 attempts and 402 completions for 6,671 passing yards and a completion rate of 76.3%, averaging 10.8 yards per attempts with 60 touchdown passes. He also has 115 carries for 368 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
As for Fernando Mendoza in his senior year, he had 273 completions on 379 attempts for 3,535 passing yards with a completion rate of 72% and averaging 8.2 yards per attempt, leading to 41 touchdowns. He also had 90 carries for 276 rushing yards, leading to seven rushing touchdowns, including that game-winner against Miami.
For passing stats, Joe Burrow has the advantage, but in terms of being a more flexible dual-threat QB, this one should go to Fernando Mendoza.
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