Historic Hoosiers Continue Their Ride With Heismendoza

Indiana University Is Home To The Heisman Trophy

The historic season of the Indiana Hoosiers' football program continues to collect accolades. Joined by his family and Coach Cignetti, red-shirt Junior quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, won the elusive Heisman Trophy Saturday night in New York City. Hoosier fans may have manifested the win, having started a chant halfway through the season of, "Heismendoza". As the chant continued to grow louder with each win, so did the Hoosier quarterback's resume, culminating in the regular season's undefeated finish and the Big Ten Championship win over the defending national title holder, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Mendoza's accomplishments this season are incredible, which most likely led to the landslide 2,362 votes he received in the contest. From the IU Football website:

"In addition to the Heisman Trophy, Mendoza has been recognized as the winner of the Davey O'Brien Award, Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Big Ten Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year, and the AP College Football National Player of the Year. He has also been named a First Team All-American by The Athletic, Pro Football Focus, Sports Illustrated and is a 2025 All-Big Ten First Team honoree, among other accolades."

Check out the winner announcement and full acceptance speech here:

What's Next For Hoosier Football

With their undefeated season and Big Ten Championship win, the Hoosiers have secured the No. 1 seed for the College Football Playoff (CFP). For the first time ever, the Hoosiers are playing in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day at 4 pm EST. However, the road there is not the easiest of paths to take. IU will face the winner of SEC powerhouses Alabama and Oklahoma, who also had stellar seasons. The National Championship game will be held on Monday, January 19th, in Miami. All games are available via the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ABC, TruTV, and TNT).

Check out these cool videos of fans celebrating the Heisman win at Kilroy's on Kirkwood (courtesy of their Facebook page):

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One of our staffers did a preview of possible Heisman finalists before the season's start. Not only is Mendoza not on the list, the majority of these prospects didn't have a Heisman year at all. Let's take a look at who the pre-season said should have won it.