QB Fernando Mendoza bulldozes his way into the end zone on a fourth-quarter TD run and Indiana bullies its way into the history books, holding off Miami, 27-21, to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story.<\/b>
\nThe Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left that defined this game \u2013 and the Hoosiers\u2019 season.
Indiana would not be denied.
Mendoza\u2019s TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti\u2019s team a 10-point lead \u2013 barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who bloodied Mendoza\u2019s lip early, then came to life late behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.
The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana \u2013 a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.
Indiana finished 16-0 \u2013 using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.
In a bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight\u2019s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state\u2019s favorite sport.
Players like Mendoza \u2013 a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami\u2019s campus, \u201cThe U\u201d \u2013 certainly don\u2019t come around often.
Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher\u2019s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes\u2019 deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.
The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.
Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth-and-4 from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field and the coach drew up a quarterback draw.
Mendoza, not known as a run-first guy, slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out \u2013 a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.
Much more to come on this story.Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza dives across the goal line for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff national championship game against Miami on Monday night in Miami Gardens, Florida. Indiana won, 27-21, for the program’s first national title. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/ )<\/p>\n