Earnest Fernando Mendoza eager to lead Indiana to

Through tears, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza thanked every member of his household after turning into the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman Trophy. The Cuban American quarterback acknowledged his household for believing in him throughout his profession.

He was a two-star high college recruit who drew little consideration before finally touchdown an alternative to play at California. After three years with the Golden Bears, including a redshirt 12 months, he transferred to Indiana. On Thursday, the No. 1 Hoosiers will take the sphere at the Rose Bowl, where they may face school soccer conventional energy Alabama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

Pressure is acquainted for Mendoza. He’s confronted challenges throughout his profession — from proving himself as an ignored high college athlete to incomes his beginning position at Cal.

Anytime Mendoza has met a hurdle, he considers how to help those around him shine.

“I know that’s my responsibility to my coaches, to my teammates and to the entire team, to be able to be sharp mentally and not have outside influences, pressures and noise able to impact my game,” Mendoza said. “I think one thing is just keeping the process on how I got here, how the entire team got to this place, which is keeping the process that I’ve kept for every single game.”

The Hoosiers completed the season undefeated. They will play for their first Rose Bowl victory in 57 years and it’ll be the second 12 months in a row Indiana has reached the College Football Playoff.

“His leadership has increased in those crucial moments and I think that’s what makes him such a special player — because when the stakes are the highest, he steps up and gets the team going,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “He’s a guy that people want to get behind and run a play for.”

Mendoza grew to become the third participant with Latino heritage to win the Heisman Trophy. His grandparents on both sides of the household have been born in Cuba and during his acceptance speech, he made sure to thank them in Spanish.

In the NFL, Latino gamers have change into a growing demographic. From 2021-25, illustration jumped from 12 to 47 gamers who establish as Latino, with 32 on 53-man rosters at the start of the season. Mendoza shouldn’t be in the league, but his elevated presence in the school soccer world has come with additional stress of representing a tradition and proving Latinos can succeed in soccer.

“To be able to play in this atmosphere in the Rose Bowl, it’s a special moment for myself, for my family, and I would say just being able to play in front of a Hispanic and Latino crowd, it’s what I do,” Mendoza said. “I want to inspire young Latino kids and I want to always represent my culture to the highest.”

On Thursday, Mendoza will take the sphere for the first time as a Heisman winner, including another layer of depth to his recreation. The award winner is anticipated to do many national media interviews and Mendoza not too long ago was a distinguished voice during a “60 Minutes” section about Indiana.

“What you see on camera is who he is,” Jones said. “Whether it’s in the locker room or out to eat with some of my teammates, he is one of the more genuine people on the team.”

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hopes the expectations that come with the Heisman Trophy don’t change the quarterback’s type.

“It’s really critical now that he develops a sharp edge in his preparation and doesn’t play like, ‘Oh, I’m the Heisman Trophy winner and I’ve got to do this or do that,’ because we’ve all been following this game long enough to know we’ve seen some of those performances,” he said.

Cignetti understands the problem of the opponent standing in entrance of Mendoza. The Alabama protection works to throw the quarterback off steadiness. The Tide have great gamers who play exhausting and fast. In order to win, Mendoza and his teammates need to play the way in which they’ve all season.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about execution, left tackle doing his job, running back, receiver, and Fernando being on point,” Cignetti said.

Mendoza said he’s up to the problem. When he takes the first snap in Pasadena, he received’t be pondering of personal statistics or awards, he’ll be pondering about the national championship.

“Now we have to get the ultimate team award,” he said.