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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Heisman Trophy

  • 9h ago
 

Photos of IU football vs. Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was named the winner of the 2025 Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York City.

The junior beat out Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia for college football’s highest honor.

He becomes the first Indiana player in program history to win the Heisman Trophy.

Mendoza easily won the award, earning the top spot on 643 ballots and tallying 2,362 points. Pavia was second with 189 first-place votes and 1,435 points. Love earned 46 votes to win the award (719 points) and Sayin had eight votes to win (432 points).

The Heisman Trophy victory caps off a near-sweep of all the major quarterback awards. He won Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, AP Player of the Year, the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award while also earning first-team All-American honors from several outlets.

Following a successful sophomore season at Cal, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti made Mendoza a priority when he entered the transfer portal in December.

The Miami, Florida, native burst onto the national scene with 267 yards and five touchdown passes against No. 9 Illinois, cementing himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten.

Mendoza built a wealth of Heisman moments throughout the season, beginning with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt in the waning moments of the team’s victory against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.

The following game at Oregon, after throwing a fourth-quarter Pick 6, Mendoza led a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. His connection with Sarratt from eight yards out proved to be the game-winner as the Hoosiers took down the No. 2 Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

With the late-game heroics, the once-long-shot for the Heisman soared to the best odds to win the award.

His touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. to beat Penn State garnered all of the attention of all those who were skeptical of Mendoza’s legitimacy in the Heisman race.

When the lights were brightest, Mendoza did just enough. In the Big Ten championship game against the vaunted Ohio State defense, he went 15-of-23 for 222 yards. His third-quarter touchdown pass to Sarratt was the difference in the game while his 33-yard completion to Charlie Becker sealed Indiana’s first conference title since 1967.

Mendoza led the Hoosiers to its first undefeated regular season with a 13-0 record. He completed 71.5 percent of passes for 2,980 yards, 33 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added another 240 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, leading Indiana to the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

The 91st winner of the Heisman trophy will next take the field at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the CFP Quarterfinal against the winner of No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama.

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