In a historic moment for Indiana University’s football program, Fernando Mendoza, the dynamic quarterback for the top-ranked Hoosiers, clinched the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York. This win marks a significant milestone as Mendoza becomes the first player from Indiana to receive this esteemed accolade since the award was established in 1935.

Mendoza secured the trophy with an impressive 2,362 first-place votes, outpacing other top contenders such as Vanderbilt’s quarterback Diego Pavia, who garnered 1,435 votes, Notre Dame’s running back Jeremiyah Love with 719 votes, and Ohio State’s quarterback Julian Sayin, who received 432 votes.

Under Mendoza’s leadership, the Hoosiers have ascended to their first-ever No. 1 ranking and secured the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Mendoza’s stellar performance this season includes throwing for 2,980 yards and leading the nation with 33 touchdown passes, alongside rushing for six additional scores. Indiana remains the only undefeated team in major college football and is set to compete in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on January 1.

After transferring from California, Mendoza, a first-year starter for the Hoosiers, has been instrumental in driving an offense that has shattered previous school records for touchdowns and points, surpassing last season’s unexpected success in reaching the College Football Playoff.

A redshirt junior from Miami, Mendoza was not heavily recruited initially but has now become only the second player in Indiana’s history to be a Heisman finalist, following in the footsteps of 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. This achievement also highlights a new chapter for Indiana, as Mendoza’s top finish continues a trend of excellence with the program having back-to-back top-10 Heisman candidates, following quarterback Kurtis Rourke’s ninth-place finish last year.

Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years, with two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado ending the run last season.

Confident Commodore

Pavia threw for a school-record 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Commodores, who were pushing for a CFP berth all the way to the bracket announcement. He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history.

Pavia went from being unrecruited out of high school to junior college, New Mexico State and finally Vanderbilt in 2024 through the transfer portal.

Brash and confident, the graduate student from Albuquerque, New Mexico, calls himself “a chip on the shoulder guy” and he was feisty off the field, too: He played his fourth Division I season under a preliminary injunction as he challenges NCAA eligibility rules; he contends his junior college years should not count against his eligibility, citing the potential losses in earnings from name, image and likeness deals as an illegal restraint on free trade.

Vandy next plays in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on Dec. 31.

Buckeyes’ leader

Sayin led the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking for most of the season, throwing for 3,329 yards while tying for second in the country with 31 TD passes ahead of their CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

The sophomore from Carlsbad, California, arrived at Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change. He played four games last season before winning the starting job. He led the Buckeyes to a 14-7 win in the opener against preseason No. 1 Texas and kept the team atop the AP Top 25 for 13 straight weeks, tying its second-longest run.

Sayin was only the second Bowl Subdivision quarterback in the last 40 years to have three games in a season with at least 300 yards passing, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a completion rate of at least 80%. West Virginia’s Geno Smith was the other in 2012.

Sayin follows a strong lineage of Ohio State quarterbacks since coach Ryan Day arrived in 2017. Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), C.J. Stroud (2021), and Kyle McCord (2023) averaged 3,927 passing yards, 40 TDs, and six interceptions, along with a 68.9% completion rate during their first seasons.

Irish Love

The last running back to win the Heisman was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love put himself in the mix with an outstanding season for Notre Dame.

The junior from St. Louis was fourth in the Bowl Subdivision in yards rushing (1,372), fifth in per-game average (114.3) and third with 18 rushing touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, who missed out on a CFP bid and opted not to play in a bowl game.

He was the first player in Notre Dame’s storied history to produce multiple TD runs of 90 or more yards, a 98-yarder against Indiana in the first round of last year’s playoffs and a 94-yarder against Boston College earlier this season.

He padded his Heisman resume with a series of highlights displaying an uncanny ability to maintain his balance while hurdling defenders, spinning out of tackles or rolling off opponents. He teamed with Jadarian Price to create one of the season’s top running back duos, a combination that helped first-time starter CJ Carr emerge as one of the nation’s best young quarterbacks.