Overview
- Mendoza won the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, receiving 32 of 51 first-place votes after leading 13-0 Indiana to its first Big Ten title since 1967 and the No. 1 CFP seed.
- He also claimed the Walter Camp Player of the Year, while Curt Cignetti earned Walter Camp Coach of the Year honors as the first repeat winner of that award.
- The Heisman finalists are Mendoza, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia, Ohio State QB Julian Sayin and Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, with sportsbooks listing Mendoza as a heavy -1000 favorite entering Saturday’s ceremony in New York.
- Season line: 71.5% completions for 2,980 yards, 33 TDs and six INTs with six rushing scores, highlighted by a last-minute winner at Penn State, a go-ahead drive at Oregon and a title-sealing third-and-6 strike vs. Ohio State.
- Off the field, a Mendoza brothers fundraiser for the National MS Society surged past its $50,000 goal to about $62,000 following fan campaigns this week.