Indiana HC Curt Cignetti on QB Fernando Mendoza: 'He Has the Heart of a Lion'

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza finished off his 2025 Heisman Trophy season in style.

In what was a 27-21 victory over Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, Mendoza rushed for a 12-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 at the Hurricanes' 12-yard line with 9:18 remaining in the fourth quarter, which, ultimately, put the Hoosiers up for good.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti can only praise his quarterback.

"Fernando, I know he's great in interviews and comes off the All-American guy, but he has the heart of a lion when it comes to competition," Cignetti said about Mendoza during Indiana's National Championship postgame press conference. "That guy competes like a warrior. He got really smacked a few times in this game. That one drive, we kicked a field goal, there should've been two roughing-the-quarterbacks and one high hit to the head, and they weren't called. I'm all for letting them play, but when they cross the line, you got to call it.

"I can't say enough about his effort on that play [the touchdown run], and our team found a way to get it done."

Outside the pivotal rushing touchdown, Mendoza finished the night with 186 passing yards and a 117.1 passer rating. Across Indiana's three postseason games, Mendoza threw a combined eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.

On the season (16 games), Mendoza totaled 3,535 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a 182.9 passer rating, while completing 72.0% of his passes. He also rushed for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.

After the title win, Mendoza, who's typically lively but calm about himself, dropped an F-bomb in an on-field postgame interview.

"I'd say [I was] overwhelmed by emotion," Mendoza said about dropping an F-bomb. "It's the pinnacle peak. All season, sometimes I've had these cutter-cutter responses and media-trained responses where it's been like, ‘oh, onto the next game,' 'onto the next play,’ and now we did it. At that point, I think it was only fitting to kind of open the floodgates, per se, probably break my stereotype."

"He's been around Coach Cig too long, who has an X-rated mouth," Cignetti quipped after Mendoza answered the question about his on-field interview.

Mendoza transferred to Indiana after three seasons at California (2022-24). The veteran quarterback is the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, a selection owned by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Indiana finished the 2025 season at 16-0 and is a combined 27-2 under Cignetti since he took over at Bloomington for the 2024 season. What did the head coach do after this win?

"[I had a] Hoosier Beer from Upland Brewery, a big brewery in Bloomington, Indiana — throw a little bouquet out to them. It was the best beer I've ever had in my life and made me want to have another," Cignetti said.

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