The No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers earned a 20-15 Week 5 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, giving the program its fifth win on the season. However, sports bettors were torn apart after Hoosiers star Fernando Mendoza decided to scramble backwards for 40 yards and take the safety on the final play of the game.
On Sunday, the junior quarterback acknowledged individuals who may have bet on the spread of the game, according to ESPN. Indiana was an 8.5 favorite in the contest, and Mendoza's safety potentially impacted some bets in alternate spreads. Fernando Mendoza explained why he took the safety and apologized to sports bettors.
“Coach said, ‘Hey, take a safety, run out of the end zone,'” Mendoza said. “When I got to the 2, I saw all zeros on the clock, but I kept going… I know I really cooked people's spreads. My apologies out to them.”
Fernando Mendoza ended Saturday's contest with 233 passing yards and two touchdowns while owning a 56.5% completion percentage. He also rushed for 26 yards on eight attempts. The Week 5 win was the closest point differential so far this season for Indiana, as the Hoosiers have blown out their opponents in three of their five matchups.
The victory jumped the program from No. 11 to No. 8. Head coach Curt Cignetti certainly has a firm grasp of what leads to winning football, as he now holds a 16-2 overall record in Indiana. The win over Iowa was Cignetti's 135th of his career as a head coach.
Indiana has a bye in Week 6 and will return in Week 7 when the team takes on the Oregon Ducks. That will be a massive test for the Hoosiers, as Dan Lanning and the Ducks just pulled off an impressive win over the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium.
