Ryan

[Ryan @Lakotablood]

@CoachJimFuller #Phinsup

[Coach Fuller @CoachJimFuller]

Here’s the Rules:

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One Lucky person will be picked at Random on Sunday night. Good luck! #phinsup

[Indiana Football @IndianaFootball]

16 weeks going to battle, 16 weeks 1-0.

[Edward Koton 🇵🇪 @EdwardKoton15]

Indiana vs. Miami National Championship Extended Highlights.

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[The Indiana Shop @theindianashop]

The Perfect University. 👏 #iufb #iubb #NeverDaunted

[Hoosiers Connect @HoosiersConnect]

The last undefeated team in college basketball?

The Indiana Hoosiers.

The last undefeated team in college football?

The Indiana Hoosiers.

[Get Up @GetUpESPN]

"That play will live on forever."

@JRodgers11 analyzes Indiana's final play that secured them the National Championship 🤩

[Mick Akers @mickakers]

The Indiana band and cheer team were surprised by QB Fernando Mendoza walking through the hallway giving them high-fives as they are exiting Hard Rock Stadium after the CFP Playoff championship. #indiana #miami #cbplayoff

[Ryan @Lakotablood]

@ThatFinsRealtor @HoosiersBison Not a viewpoint at all. This coming from a guy who claimed IU couldn’t handle Miami’s speed 😆. All kidding aside…It’s just like our Dolphins, the U’s problem is discipline. All the talent though. Was a heck of a game!

[𝕰𝖒𝕲 @Emilio2763]

This is Poetry in Motion…

[Ryan @Lakotablood]

@ThatFinsRealtor @HoosiersBison Hurricanes played like thugs the whole game. Undisciplined!! Fletcher throwing a punch doesn’t surprise me. His team tried taking Mendoza out of the game on several attempts. IU came out on top, never daunted.

[Indiana Football @IndianaFootball]

Played to win.

[Michael Niziolek @michaelniziolek]

Miami native Jamari Sharpe, who made game-winning play for Indiana football tonight wasn't recruited by his hometown school.

"I guess I showed them tonight why they should have recruited me."

[Chase Daniel @ChaseDaniel]

One of the most iconic championship moments of recent memory

[Hard Rock Bet @HardRockBet]

“I was a two start recruit coming out of high school, got declined a walk on offer to the University of Miami”

This was revenge for Fernando Mendoza

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

"We won the national championship at Indiana University, it can be done."

Indiana Football head coach Curt Cignetti with @MollyAMcGrath after beating Miami 👏

[Indiana Football @IndianaFootball]

Perfection.

[Ryan @Lakotablood]

HOO HOO HOOOOOSSSIIEERRSSS!!!!!

[Ryan @Lakotablood]

@LRiddickESPN As you were saying? lol