NEW YORK (AP) — Versatile Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college football’s most prestigious award since its creation in 1935.
Mendoza received 2,362 first-place votes. He surpassed Vanderbilt’s Mexican QB Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State QB Julian Sayin (432 votes).
Mendoza led the Hoosiers to their first-place finish and first-place finish in College Football’s 12-team field, throwing for 2,980 yards and a national record 33 touchdown passes, while also rushing for six scores. Indiana, the last undefeated team in high-level college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ starting starter in his first year after transferring from California, is the architect of an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points during last season’s surprising run to the CFP.
The redshirt junior and Miami native, who was narrowly drafted, is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top ten finish in Heisman voting, marking another first in program history with consecutive players in the top ten. Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke finished ninth last year.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman in four of the past five years, with two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado breaking the streak last season.
The presentation of the Heisman Trophy came after several awards had already been presented. Mendoza was named player of the year by The Associated Press earlier this week and received the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards on Friday night, while Love won the Doak Walker Award.
Confident Commodore
Pavia threw for a school-record 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Commodores, who were pushing for a spot in the CFP until the bracket announcement. He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history.
At 6-foot-4, Pavia led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season, along with six wins against Southeastern Conference opponents. That includes four wins over ranked programs as Vandy reached No. 9, its highest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1937.
Pavia went from high school to a community college, then to New Mexico State and finally to Vanderbilt in 2024 through the transfer portal.
Bold and confident, the graduate student from Albuquerque, New Mexico calls himself “a guy with a chip on his shoulder” and was also combative off the court: He played his fourth Division I season under a temporary injunction while questioning NCAA eligibility rules; argues that his years at community college should not count toward his eligibility, citing potential loss of profits from name, image and likeness deals as an illegal restriction on free trade.
Vandy will play Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl on December 31.
Buckeyes leader
Sayin led the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking for most of the season, throwing for 3,329 yards while ranking second in the nation with 31 touchdown passes heading into their CFP quarterfinal game in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.
The sophomore from Carlsbad, California, came to Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change. He played four games last season before earning the starting job. He led the Buckeyes to a 14–7 victory in the opening game against preseason No. 1 Texas and kept the team atop the AP Top 25 for 13 consecutive weeks, tying their second-longest streak.
Sayin was only the second Bowl Subdivision quarterback in the past 40 years to play three games in a season with at least 300 passing yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a completion percentage of at least 80%. Geno Smith of West Virginia was the other in 2012.
Sayin follows a strong line of Ohio State QBs since coach Ryan Day arrived in 2017. Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), CJ Stroud (2021) and Kyle McCord (2023) averaged 3,927 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and six interceptions along with a 68.9% completion percentage during their first seasons.
Irish love
The last running back to win the Heisman was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love put himself in the mix with a breakout season for Notre Dame.
The St. Louis junior ranked fourth in the Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards (1,372), fifth in average per game (114.3) and third with 18 rushing touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, who missed out on a CFP bid and opted not to play in a bowl game.
He was the first player in Notre Dame’s storied history to produce multiple touchdown runs of 90 or more yards, a 98-yarder against Indiana in the first round of last year’s playoffs and a 94-yarder against Boston College earlier this season.
He added to his Heisman resume with a string of highlights that showed an uncanny ability to maintain balance while leaping over defenders, spinning out of tackles or rolling over opponents. He teamed with Jadarian Price to create one of the best running back duos of the season, a combination that helped rookie C.J. Carr develop into one of the best young quarterbacks in the country.
___
Sports in Spanish AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
#Fernando #Mendoza #wins #Heisman #Trophy #college #football #player