Overview
- Mendoza won the Walter Camp Player of the Year, while coach Curt Cignetti became the award’s first repeat Coach of the Year.
- He is one of four Heisman finalists with Diego Pavia, Jeremiyah Love and Julian Sayin, and he is the heavy betting favorite at roughly -1000 ahead of Saturday’s ceremony in New York.
- Indiana finished 13-0 and beat then-No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten title game, highlighted by Mendoza’s late 33-yard third-down strike, securing the No. 1 CFP seed and a Rose Bowl matchup on Jan. 1 against the Alabama–Oklahoma winner after a first-round bye.
- Big Ten coaches voted Mendoza the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, and PFF named him first-team All–Big Ten and Offensive Player of the Year after a career-best grade versus Ohio State.
- For the season, he has completed about 72% of his passes for 2,980 yards with 33 touchdowns and six interceptions, and analysts project his NFL draft stock could rise into top-two territory.