ATLANTA (Web News) — Indiana is headed to the national championship game for the first time in program history. For Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, that means a chance to end a fairytale season in the place where his story first began.
It’s been a historic season for Indiana, and Mendoza is largely to credit. Indiana won its first Big Ten title since 1967, beat Ohio State for the first time since 1988, earned the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, won its first Rose Bowl, and in December, Mendoza became the program’s first Heisman Trophy winner.
After a five touchdown performance and 56-22 rout of Oregon in the Peach Bowl, there’s now just one item left on the checklist for Mendoza and the Hoosiers — and that’s beating Miami on its home turf in the championship game.
It will be a homecoming for the quarterback, who grew up in Miami and attended Christopher Columbus High School, roughly 30 minutes south of Hard Rock Stadium.
