It is next to impossible to not like Indiana's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Brimming with undeniable enthusiasm, he is the perfect leader for one of the best teams in college football this season. He has the traits to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft, but him being the ultimate team guy is why he has become a legend in this sport.
Here is what he had to say about the team's cohesiveness while appearing on The Pat McAfee Show.
"Yeah, this is an extremely tight team. Not only are we tight on the field, we are very tight off the field. And Pat [Coogan] is basically, if not the captain, one of the biggest captains on our team, and especially our offense. He always gives us pregame speeches, halftime speeches, and makes sure that we never have that complacency. It's all a trickle-down effect from Coach Cig, to the coordinators, to our position coaches, then the leaders on the team, to then really just throughout the entire team."
Here is everything Mendoza had to say about his team and the admiration he has for Pat Coogan, too.
Fernando Mendoza talks about the mindset that his team has had throughout the season to get Indiana to the CFP Semifinal at the Peach Bowl 🏈
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 5, 2026
(via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/BBGxJIome3
This cannot go unnoticed. Even though Mendoza played great in the dominating Rose Bowl victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide, he was not named the MVP of that national quarterfinal. It went to the Hoosiers' entire offensive line, the unit that mauled Kane Wommack's defense all afternoon long. Representing the front five was the lovable center for Indiana in Coogan. He is a ball of energy, too.
Whether it be Mendoza, Coogan, or any other players on this team, Indiana is just so easy to root for.
Fernando Mendoza has the Indiana Hoosiers impossible to root against
There is no way around it. Mendoza is a purely positive life force that has been injected into this team. Yes, Curt Cignetti has been the secret sauce for longer, but he can be a little persnickety to say the very least. It is why Mendoza still has infinite praise throughout the college football world, while some people are not actively rooting for Cignetti to succeed as much as his Heisman-winning quarterback.
What this really boils down to is Indiana has to be a tight team because it has not recruited to the same degree out of high school as Miami, Ole Miss, or Oregon have. Mendoza transferred from Cal. Coogan from Notre Dame. Star wide receiver Elijah Sarratt followed Cignetti from James Madison to Bloomington. You get the idea, right? This team is built differently because it was built differently...
In the end, Indiana is the most well-coached team left in the College Football Playoff. While beating the same team twice in one year is hard, Indiana is a bit more even-keeled than Oregon could ever dream to be on its best day. As for whoever comes out of the Fiesta Bowl between Ole Miss and Miami, one of them is bound to run out of gas at some point, right? In the end, it may be Indiana's year.
For now, Mendoza and the boys need to hunker down and make sure they can beat Oregon in Atlanta.