MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone and Indiana bullied its way into the history books Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season and the national title.
The Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-four with 9:18 left that defined this game — and the Hoosiers’ season.
Indiana would not be denied.
Mendoza’s TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti’s team a 10-point lead — barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who bloodied Mendoza’s lip early, then came to life late behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.
The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Ind. — a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.
Indiana finished 16-0 — using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.
In a bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state’s favorite sport.
Players like Mendoza — a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami’s campus, “The U” — certainly don’t come around often.
Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher’s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes’ deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.
The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.
Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth down from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field and the coach drew up a quarterback draw.
Mendoza, not known as a run-first guy, slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out — a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.
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