Overview
- Trailing 24-20 with 1:51 left and no timeouts, Indiana drove 73–80 yards in 1:15, overcoming an opening sack with gains of 22 yards to Omar Cooper Jr., 12 to E.J. Williams Jr., 29 to Riley Nowakowski and 17 to Charlie Becker before the go-ahead score with 36 seconds remaining.
- On third-and-goal, Cooper secured a high throw with a deft toe tap at the back of the end zone as Mendoza released under heavy pressure.
- Mendoza finished 19-of-30 for 218 yards with one touchdown and one interception, adding roughly 20 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
- The win moved Indiana to 10-0 and 7-0 in the Big Ten and marked the program’s first victory at Penn State, while the Nittany Lions fell to 3-6 under interim coach Terry Smith.
- Oddsmakers including DraftKings and FanDuel elevated Mendoza to the top of Heisman betting, and postgame reactions included Curt Cignetti’s “refused to lose” praise and Smith’s acknowledgement that Mendoza “won the game for them.”