By the time you're reading this, Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza will have been named the 2025 College Football season's Heisman Trophy winner. Mendoza faces competition in Ohio State Buckeyes QB Julian Sayin, Notre Dame Fighting Irish RB Jeremiyah Love, and Vanderbilt Commodores QB Diego Pavia. It's not competition that had the Heisman odds even close in the final days before the ceremony at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
The award was a foregone conclusion after Indiana upset Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship Game last Saturday in Indianapolis. IU has had a historic season, and there may be no greater accolade the program achieves than a Heisman Trophy winner. The Buckeyes are still favored in any scenario, and a neutral-site game against the No. 7-ranked Oklahoma Sooners defense, or even the No. 12-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defense, is a big ask for a program that's never risen to the moment.
Mendoza is getting his moment in the Big Apple, though, and going down in history as the leader of the 2025 College Football regular season's best team. Not only is it because of the Buckeyes game, but because of come-from-behind victories against the Penn State Nittany Lions and Iowa Hawkeyes, a resounding beatdown of the Illinois Fighting Illini, and a stunning double-digit win over the Oregon Ducks at sacred Autzen Stadium. Oregon hadn't lost in Eugene since Michael Penix's Washington Huskies outdueled Bo Nix's Ducks in November 2022.
FOX Sports' Michael Cohen believes the OSU upset definitively put Mendoza's resume over Sayin's.
"Mendoza, a transfer from Cal, was already the Heisman Trophy front-runner entering last week’s conference title game against then-No. 1 Ohio State, though he certainly was still within striking distance of Sayin and Pavia. By the time Mendoza arrived at Lucas Oil Stadium, he’d already guided the Hoosiers to 10 victories by double-digit margins, including a 63-10 evisceration of then-No. 9 Illinois and a thumping 30-20 triumph at Autzen Stadium against then-No. 3 Oregon."
"He had also authored come-from-behind road wins against Iowa (20-15) and Penn State (27-24) that included bona fide Heisman Trophy-caliber moments in each: his 49-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Elijah Sarratt when facing an all-out blitz from the Hawkeyes with 1:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, and his inch-perfect throw to wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., who made a stunning, toe-tapping grab in the back of the end zone, for the winning score with 0:36 remaining against the Nittany Lions. They were the kind of season-defining throws voters remember weeks and months later when casting ballots," Cohen wrote.
"Still, by sharing the Big Ten Championship Game stage with Sayin, a first-year starter who has enjoyed a remarkable season in his own right, Mendoza was certainly in a position to be caught or leapfrogged in the Heisman race depending on how that head-to-head showdown unfolded. A dominant, victorious effort from Sayin, who still leads the nation in completion rate at 78.4%, might have been enough to sway certain voters based on the magnitude of the setting. After all, Sayin did finish the regular season with more passing yards than Mendoza."
Ohio State's Heisman candidates suffered from being Buckeyes
When you think of Indiana, your mind is going to Mendoza and Curt Cignetti. There are few other household names, though Omar Cooper Jr.'s name may be evoked because his acrobatic game-winning catch in the back of the end zone against Penn State was just as pivotal to the moment as Mendoza's hurried miracle toss.
When you think of Ohio State, though, you're thinking of Sayin as much as you're thinking of the sport's best overall player, receiver Jeremiah Smith. You're also naturally thinking of Smith's co-star in the receiving corps, Carnell Tate, who gave Sayin many of his big moments. You probably also have the capacity for safety Caleb Downs, and linebacker Arvell Reese.
The Buckeyes' star power was ultimately Sayin's undoing this year. Mendoza had too many moments. And Sayin had too many headline-name co-stars.