NEW YORK — Fernando Mendoza, the enthusiastic quarterback of No. 1 Indiana, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college football\u2019s most prestigious award since its inception in 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendoza claimed 2,362 points, including 643 first-place votes. He beat Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 points), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 points) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 points).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendoza\u2019s Heisman win was emphatic. He finished first in all six Heisman regions, the first to do so since Caleb Williams in 2022. He was named on 95.16% of all ballots, tying him with Marcus Mariota in 2014 for the second highest in the award\u2019s history and he received 84.6% of total possible points, which is the seventh highest in Heisman history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen the numbers yet,\u201d said Mendoza, “but it\u2019s such an honor to be mentioned with these guys (Pavia, Love and Sayin). It’s really a credit to our team. It\u2019s a team award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football bracket<\/a>, throwing for 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores. Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mendoza, the Hoosiers\u2019 first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season\u2019s surprise run to the CFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native<\/a> is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top-10 finish in Heisman balloting and it marks another first in program history \u2014 having back-to-back players in the top 10. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With his teammates chanting \u201cHeismanDoza\u201d as he addressed the media, he said there felt like a realistic chance of winning the Heisman when the Hoosiers routed then No. 19 Illinois 63-10 on Sept. 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt that point my boys (teammates) said we might make it to New York (for the award ceremony),” he said. “It was lighthearted at the time, but that\u2019s when it started. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years, with two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado ending the run last season.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mendoza is the 43rd quarterback to win the Heisman and the second winner of Latin American descent to claim the trophy. Stanford\u2019s Jim Plunkett was the first in 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough I grew up in America, my four grandparents are all from Cuba,” he said. \u201cI had the opportunity to go there and that was important to me. I credit the love to my grandparents and the Hispanic community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Heisman Trophy presentation came after a number of accolades were already awarded. Mendoza was named The Associated Press player of the year<\/a> earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O\u2019Brien awards<\/a> Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mendoza and Pavia clearly exemplify the changing landscape of using the transfer portal in college football. Mendoza is the seventh transfer to win the award in the last nine years. Vanderbilt is Pavia\u2019s third school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pavia finished second with 189 first-place votes. He threw for a school-record 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Commodores, who were pushing for a CFP berth all the way to the bracket announcement. He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generously listed as 6 feet tall, Pavia led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season along with six wins against Southeastern Conference foes. That includes four wins over ranked programs as Vandy reached No. 9, its highest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25<\/a> since 1937.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pavia went from being unrecruited out of high school to junior college, New Mexico State and finally Vanderbilt in 2024 through the transfer portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vandy next plays in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last running back to win the Heisman was Alabama\u2019s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love put himself in the mix with an outstanding season for Notre Dame. He finished with 46 first-place votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The junior from St. Louis was fourth in the Bowl Subdivision in yards rushing (1,372), fifth in per-game average (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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was the first player in Notre Dame\u2019s storied history to produce multiple TD runs of 90 or more yards, a 98-yarder against Indiana in the first round of last year\u2019s playoffs and a 94-yarder against Boston College earlier this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sayin led the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking for most of the season, throwing for 3,329 yards while tying for second in the country with 31 TD passes ahead of their CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sophomore from Carlsbad, California, arrived at Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change. He played four games last season before winning the starting job. He led the Buckeyes to a 14-7 win in the opener against preseason No. 1 Texas and kept the team atop the AP Top 25 for 13 straight weeks, tying its second-longest run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sayin follows a strong lineage of Ohio State quarterbacks since coach Ryan Day arrived in 2017. Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), C.J. Stroud (2021), and Kyle McCord (2023) averaged 3,927 passing yards, 40 TDs, and six interceptions, along with a 68.9% completion rate during their first seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n