A fourth-down gamble by coach Curt Cignetti and a gutsy 12-yard touchdown run by Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza propelled Indiana to a 27-21 victory over Miami on Monday night, securing the Hoosiers’ first national championship and a perfect 16-0 season.
Mendoza, expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, threw for 186 yards but delivered the defining play on a quarterback draw on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 remaining. He broke tackles, went airborne, and stretched the ball across the goal line to give Indiana a 24-14 lead.
“I had to go airborne,” said Mendoza, who played through a split lip and bloodied arm. “I would die for my team.”
The Hoosiers’ defense held off a furious Miami rally led by running back Mark Fletcher, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Fletcher’s 57-yard scoring run pulled Miami within 10-7 early in the third quarter, but a blocked punt by Indiana’s Mikail Kamara, recovered by Isaiah Jones, extended the lead to 17-7.
Miami cut the deficit to three on Fletcher’s second touchdown, but Cignetti’s two fourth-down gambles in the fourth quarter kept Indiana’s hopes alive. The first was a 19-yard completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade; the second was the game-sealing touchdown run.
“We rolled the dice and said, ‘They’re going to be in it again and they were,'” Cignetti said. “We blocked it well, he broke a tackle or two and got in the end zone.”
Indiana became the first team since Yale in 1894 to win 16 games in a season, and the title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0. President Donald Trump, in attendance, said, “Congratulations to Indiana. Turned out to be a great game.”
The game ended with Miami driving into Indiana territory, but quarterback Carson Beck’s pass was intercepted by Jamari Sharpe, a Miami native, sealing the victory. Cignetti, who took over a program that had lost a nation-leading 713 games over 130-plus years, said, “Did I think something like this was possible? Probably not. But if you keep your nose down and keep working, anything is possible.”
