Indiana is a college football national champion for the first time in program history, completing one of the most improbable turnarounds the sport has ever seen. The Hoosiers began the season as the losingest major program in the history of college football and finished it 16-0, becoming the first team in modern college football to post a perfect 16-win season. Indiana is also the first first-time national champion since Florida in 1996 and the third consecutive Big Ten program to win the title, following Michigan and Ohio State. What separates the Hoosiers, however, is just how unlikely the climb was for a program that had spent nearly 140 years defined by losing and indifference.
Indiana’s undefeated run was made possible by the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, allowing the Hoosiers to match a perfect-season win total not seen at the top level since Yale went 16-0 in 1894. On Monday night, Indiana sealed its place in history with a 27-21 win over No. 10 Miami in the national championship game, capping a remarkable two-year rebuild under head coach Curt Cignetti.
Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza delivered the defining moment of the game midway through the fourth quarter. Facing fourth-and-4, Cignetti burned a timeout to consider a field goal before trusting his quarterback. Mendoza took a draw up the middle, bounced off multiple defenders, spun to stay upright and dove across the goal line for a 12-yard touchdown that gave Indiana a 24-14 lead. The run instantly became one of the most iconic plays in college football championship history and symbolized the toughness and belief that fueled Indiana’s season.
Miami answered with urgency, driving 91 yards in eight plays as freshman standout Malachi Toney ignited the crowd with a 41-yard reception and finished the possession with a 22-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 6:37 remaining. Indiana nearly closed the game on the ensuing possession, but a false start stopped the clock late and allowed the Hurricanes one final chance.
Mendoza responded with poise, converting two critical third downs on the final drive, including a 19-yard back-shoulder throw to breakout sophomore Charlie Becker that moved the Hoosiers into scoring range. Nico Radicic then drilled a 35-yard field goal with 1:42 left to extend Indiana’s lead to 27-21. Miami’s hopes were extinguished moments later when Jamari Sharpe intercepted a deep pass near midfield, sealing the win and a third straight national title for the Big Ten.
Mendoza finished 16 of 27 for 186 yards, and his legacy will be defined by the fourth-down touchdown run that extended the Hoosiers lead and capped an undefeated season. The win put a historic exclamation point on Indiana’s rise from college football’s most unlikely contender to national champion, closing a chapter that few thought possible and sending Mendoza and several Hoosiers to the 2026 NFL Draft as legends in Bloomington.
