Undefeated Indiana Hoosiers Win CFP National Championship

The Indiana Hoosiers have won their first-ever college football championship after defeating the Miami Hurricanes.

It caps off a slew of achievements by the unsuspecting team, including going undefeated at 16-0 and being led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.

Monday night’s game did start slow, however, with no points on the board until Indiana’s field goal midway through the first quarter. They’d double back in the second half with a rushing touchdown from tight end Riley Nowakowski.

Suddenly, it was halftime, and the score was 10-0 with Miami failing to produce on offense thanks to ricocheting a kick off the uprights.

Thankfully, things started heating up in the third, and momentum looked like it was leaning towards the Canes as Mark Fletcher dodged defenders and ran it in for a career-long 57 yards to put Miami on the board.

Unfortunately, the Hoosiers answered with some suffocating special teams defense, blocking the punt and recovering it in the end zone, making the score 17-7.

Fletcher would punch in another rushing touchdown to set the stage for the fourth quarter at 17-14.

Towards the middle of the quarter, Mendoza proved why he deserved the Heisman when he put his body on the line during a gutsy 4th-and-five play where he got knocked around, and hit a spin move before diving into the end zone. But the Hurricanes would respond with another touchdown, bringing them closer to 24-21.

The Hoosiers hit another field goal, and then on the final drive, the Canes had a chance to take the lead, but sealed their fate when quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception to defensive back Jamari Sharpe.

Mendoza talked about his impressive rushing touchdown against the Miami defense that sacked him three times.

“I’ll die for my team out there, and I know they’d do the same for me,” he said postgame while shouting out Miami’s tough edge rushers.

“And at that point, I took the drop,” Mendoza said. “It wasn’t the perfect coverage for it, but I trust my linemen, and everybody in that entire offense. The entire team had a gritty performance today. And we were all putting our bodies on the line, so it was the least I could do for my brothers.” 

It’s also a full circle moment because he’s not forgetting Miami, his hometown team, declining him a walk-on offer.

With the Hoosiers capping off an undefeated season with a Natty, see how social media is reacting to the win —and Miami’s loss— below.