MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — 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-4 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.
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The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana — 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-and-4 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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