The Indiana Hoosiers finally know who they will face in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. After mounting a 17-0 comeback, Alabama took down Oklahoma in the first round of the CFP to secure its spot in the Rose Bowl to face the Hoosiers.
This should be a really great game as both teams are firing on all cylinders right now. Indiana is looking like an unstoppable team, being the only undefeated team in the country. Alabama just took down a really good Oklahoma team and is hitting its stride at the right time. It is the little things that will matter most in this game.
With the quarterback comparison certainly not a little thing, it is the little things that Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza does better than Alabama QB Ty Simpson that will help decide this game.
Fernado Mendoza's greatness can't be ignored anymore
Fernando Mendoza is a Heisman Trophy winner, he has led Indiana to an undefeated record and a Big Ten Championship. Ty Simpson was not even a Heisman Trophy finalist. He lost embarrassingly to Georgia in the SEC Championship, and he has no business going to the NFL just yet.
It is clear that when comparing these two quarterbacks in this matchup, Mendoza has the clear advantage. Coming off his Heisman Trophy win, Mendoza is also playing with all the confidence in the world right now and has the stats to back it all up.
When comparing the stats, it should be noted that Mendoza could easily have more than what he does right now, but he has already played one less game than Simpson. However, Mendoza was pulled pretty early in a lot of games this season due to huge leads. So Simpson wins the passing yards title between these two with 3,500 yards compared to 2,980 yards.
Mendoza was the winner in the touchdown pass category with 33 touchdowns, and Simpson had 28, and both are pretty close when it comes to interceptions, with Mendoza having just one more, with six, and Simpson having five.
It just feels like the confidence level for Mendoza is higher than it is for Simpson and that can mean a lot more than people think.