It's not every day you get compared to Tim Tebow or Vince Young, but Fernando Mendoza earned just that comparison from Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer.
While Mendoza had many memorable plays throughout his Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning season, no play will stand the test of time better than his fourth-down, 13-yard touchdown run in Monday's national title game vs. Miami. The run, which saw Mendoza evade multiple tacklers, spin off a defender, and dive into the end zone before being crushed, gave Indiana a two-score lead in the fourth quarter and ultimately proved to be a major difference in the Hoosiers' 27-21 win.
The run may not end up being as fondly or often remembered as Young's game-winning touchdown in the closing moments of the 2006 Rose Bowl, but Meyer thinks it has a chance, and also favorably compared the play to some that Tebow, his former Florida quarterback, pulled off during his illustrious college career.
“We had a similar situation against Oklahoma when I had Tebow and the crew, and we went for it because if you give them the ball, that’s one of those things that you regret,” Meyer said on ‘The Triple Option' podcast. “And the players would probably look at you and say, ‘Why would we not do that at this point? I mean, we’ve got here; let’s go win the damn game.' And that was game, set, match.
“And the play call, of all the iconics — the Vince Young. I’m a little biased, the Tebow jump pass in ‘08. I’m sure, Mark [Ingram], you’ve got some iconic plays from your national championship. But that Mendoza run, that will go in the archives, in the history [books]. You’ll see that for the next 25 years on the highlight reels.”
Mendoza, who became Indiana's first Heisman winner, finished his senior season with 3,811 yards and a nation-leading 41 passing touchdowns and 7 rushing touchdowns. He is expected to be one of the first quarterbacks — if not the first overall pick — taken in the 2026 NFL Draft.
