New York– Fernando MendozaNo. 1 spirited quarterback Indianawon the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college football’s most prestigious award since its inception in 1935.
Mendoza claimed 2,362 points, including 643 first-place votes. he beat Vanderbilt quarterback diego pavia (1,435 points), Notre Dame rushing back jeremiah love (719 points) and Ohio State quarterback julian sign (432 points).
Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team college football bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 touchdown passes, while also rushing for six scores. Indiana, the last undefeated team in major college football, will play in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl on January 1.
Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that has surpassed the program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprising run to the CFP.
Final voting totals for the Heisman Trophy 🏆 pic.twitter.com/DA5Qkg76xw
– ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) 14 December 2025
A redshirt junior, the Miami native who was once lightly recruited is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to finish in the top-10 in Heisman balloting and the first in program history to have back-to-back players finish in the top 10. Hoosiers quarterback Curtis Rourke was ninth last year.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman in four of the last five years, with Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter finishing the race last season.
The presentation of the Heisman Trophy came after numerous accolades had already been awarded. Mendoza was named the Associated Press Player of the Year earlier this week and won the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards on Friday night, while Love won the Doc Walker Award.
confident commodore
Pavia threw for a school-record 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Commodores, who were pushing for a CFP berth until the bracket announcement. He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history.
Generously listed as 6 feet tall, Pavia led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season as well as six wins against Southeastern Conference foes. This included four wins over ranked programs as Vandy reached No. 9, its highest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1937.
From Pavia High School to junior college, New Mexico State and ultimately Vanderbilt unrecruited via the transfer portal in 2024.
Bold and confident, the graduate student from Albuquerque, New Mexico, calls himself a “shoulder man,” and he was courageous off the field, too: He played his fourth Division I season under a preliminary injunction challenging NCAA eligibility rules; They argue that their junior college years should not count against their eligibility, citing the potential loss in earnings from name, image and likeness deals as an illegal restriction on free trade.
Vandy will next play on December 31 against Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
leader of the buckeyes
Sine led the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking, while throwing for 3,329 yards with 31 TD passes before their CFP quarterfinal loss in the Cotton Bowl on December 31, while being ranked second in the country.
The sophomore from Carlsbad, California, arrived at Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change. He played in four games last season before winning the starting job. He led the Buckeyes to a 14–7 win in the preseason opener against No. 1 Texas and led the team to the top of the AP Top 25 for 13 consecutive weeks, its second-longest record.
Sine was only the second Bowl Subdivision quarterback in the last 40 years to have three games in a season with at least 300 yards passing, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a completion rate of at least 80%. Geno Smith of West Virginia was second in 2012.
Sion follows a strong lineage of Ohio State quarterbacks since the arrival of coach Ryan Day in 2017. Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), CJ Stroud (2021), and Kyle McCord (2023) averaged 3,927 passing yards, 40 TDs, and six interceptions with a 68.9% completion rate during their first seasons.
irish love
The last time to win the Heisman was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love put himself in the mix with an excellent season for Notre Dame.
St. Louis was fourth in the Junior Bowl Subdivision in yards rushing (1,372), fifth in rushing yards per game (114.3) and third with 18 rushing touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, who missed a CFP bid and opted not to play in a bowl game.
He was the first player in Notre Dame history to score multiple TD runs of 90 or more yards, with a 98-yard run against Indiana in the first round of last year’s playoffs and a 94-yard run against Boston College earlier this season.
He added to his Heisman resume with a series of highlights, displaying an uncanny ability to maintain his composure while harassing defenders, breaking out of tackles or outrunning opponents. they worked together jadarian price To form one of the top running back pairings of the season, a combination that helped the first-time starters CJ Carr Emerging as one of the best young quarterbacks in the country.
