Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza credits the ‘power of God’ for team bond during Hoosiers’ stunning title run

The quarterback behind college football’s ultimate Cinderella story is crediting the power of God for his team’s first national championship season. 

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza passed for 186 yards and scored on a crucial 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter Monday night as the Hoosiers defeated Miami 27–21 to cap an improbable season that ended with the program’s first national championship – and made them the first team in more than a century to finish 16–0. 

For decades, Indiana was a perennial basement team, owning the dubious distinction of having the most losses in major college football history until Northwestern surpassed it in November. Now it has a national title, the program’s first Heisman Trophy winner and its first Big Ten championship since 1967. 

The shocking turnaround is perhaps captured in a single statistic: Indiana has just six bowl victories in 127 seasons – and three of those came in the past month during the Hoosiers’ stunning playoff run. 

Indiana beat college football’s heavyweights en route to its national title: first Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, and then Alabama, Oregon and Miami in the playoffs – four programs that have been perennial powers in recent decades. 

“I think it really shows the power of God and the power of bonding with one another and having the power of belief,” Mendoza, this season’s Heisman winner, told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt after the game.  

Before the season even started, Indiana faced long odds – 100-to-1 according to Vegas – to win it all. Yes, the Hoosiers had finished 11-2 during a playoff run in 2024, but most observers assumed they would fall back to earth in 2025. Two years ago, before Curt Cignetti arrived, the Hoosiers finished the 2023 season 3-9. 

“The way that we believed in each other, the way that we game planned, we prepped, we never stayed complacent throughout the entire year,” Mendoza said. “When we won the Big Ten [Championship], when our team won the Heisman, when we won the first or second round – our team never stayed complacent. And we knew that if we had that self-belief in each other, we’re able to elevate to this point.” 

Indiana’s fan base followed the historic run, turning the semifinal Peach Bowl game in Atlanta into a virtual home game by outnumbering Oregon fans by an estimated 10-to-1 and then by filling the majority of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami – the Hurricanes’ home field – where Hoosier fans made up an estimated 65% of the crowd. 

Mendoza’s faith has been central to his story. He credits God in nearly every interview and said during a news conference in the days leading up to the game that he doesn’t listen to hype songs in the hours before kickoff – instead, he prays and meditates. He referenced his faith during a postgame interview moments after the game ended. 

“I want to give all the glory and thanks to God,” he told ESPN after Monday’s win. 

All four of his grandparents immigrated to the United States from Cuba. His mother, he told Scott Van Pelt, is his inspiration. She has multiple sclerosis and watched the game from a wheelchair. 

“She wins the fight, the mental fight, every single day, against multiple sclerosis,” he said, adding that her “never-ending optimism” drives him. 

Mendoza grew up in Miami and was ranked 140th among quarterbacks and 2,149th overall as a high school senior in 2022, according to the 247Sports composite. He accepted the lone major scholarship offer he received – from California – before transferring to Indiana. His hometown Hurricanes did not recruit him. 

“I was a two-star recruit coming out of high school. I got declined a walk-on offer to the University of Miami,” Mendoza told ESPN. “[It’s a] full-circle moment here playing in Miami for all the friends and family. … I just give all the glory to God.” 

Image credit: Screenshot of Indiana University video (via X)