Indiana football has its forever moment. On January 20, 2026, with a national title hanging in the balance, Fernando Mendoza took a fourth-down snap from the 12-yard line, broke tackles, and shot into the end zone. That run sealed a 27-21 win over the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship. It delivered Indiana’s first-ever national title and capped an undefeated season. It also created a family scene that gripped the nation: an ESPN camera found Mendoza’s mom and dad, Elsa and Fernando Sr., seated together and overcome with pride and emotion as their son crossed the goal line.

In a game full of tense swings, Mendoza’s choice to trust his legs on fourth down was the boldest swing of all. It wasn’t just a touchdown. It was a statement—about belief, about family, and about a program rewriting its story in real time.

The play that sealed a title for the Indiana Hoosiers

The score said 27-21. The down said fourth. The ball sat at the 12. Mendoza took the snap, saw a crease, and went. He shed would-be tacklers and dove for the line. Indiana fans exploded. Miami fans went silent. The decision under pressure turned the College Football Playoff National Championship, and it felt like the kind of play kids dream about in their backyard.

The stat line will read clean and clear: 186 yards passing from Mendoza, and a 12-yard rushing touchdown that will be replayed for years. But context matters even more. The choice to keep it himself on fourth down showed calm, feel, and courage. It was a quarterback trusting his instincts and a staff trusting their leader.

• Final score: Indiana 27, Miami 21
• Mendoza: 186 passing yards; game-clinching 12-yard run on fourth down
• Season: Indiana finishes undefeated

“Fourth down, title on the line, and Mendoza runs it. That’s legend stuff.”

A championship seen through a family’s tears

As Mendoza crossed the goal line, ESPN cut to his parents. Elsa, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007 and now uses a wheelchair, sat beside Fernando Sr., a pediatric emergency medicine doctor in Miami. Their faces said everything—years of sacrifice and steadfast love rolled into a 10-second burst of joy.

We have seen this bond in public before. At his Heisman win, Mendoza turned to his mother and said, “You’ve always been my biggest fan. You’re my life. You’re my why… Your sacrifices, courage, love, my first playbook, my playbook I’m going to carry through my side my entire life.” Elsa, in a heartfelt essay, once wrote to her sons: “You and Alberto were so young… it just felt like this impossible thing to place on you guys… But you’ve made it so much easier… by making me feel the exact opposite of embarrassed.”

After the title game, the family’s joy was open and unfiltered. “We’re just really happy for them,” Fernando Sr. said. On WTHR, the parents smiled through the noise: “Fernando Albertos as men, which was really, really gratifying… It’s really cool. It’s fun… The smiles they’ll never go away.” On CBS Miami, the emotions of playing for it all in their hometown poured out: “Oh my God, it’s so wonderful. I don’t even know what to say. It’s unbelievable… He grew up in Miami. It’s all Miami. And we’re here playing in Miami for the national championship.”

One of the night’s purest moments came from within the family too. Caught by a mic, young brother Max bellowed: “Fernando! Friggin’! Mendoza!” It sounded like every sibling in every driveway, beaming with love and awe.

“Indiana just won with heart and family — you could see it in the stands.”

Miami ties, Cuban American roots, and a full-circle finish

Mendoza is the oldest of three boys—Alberto, who serves as a reserve quarterback at Indiana, and Max. They grew up in Miami. He once rooted for the Hurricanes. Some extended family in the crowd even wore Miami gear. That is part of this story’s poetry: a son of the city, raised on Canes football, now beats Miami on the biggest stage of all.

His family’s story runs even deeper. “Whose grandparents, all four grandparents immigrated from Cuba to Miami, made their way, had the American dream,” Mendoza said, thanking God and his grandparents for the childhood they made possible. Alberto shared what a trip to Cuba meant to them: “We saw where my grandfather lived and we went to my grandmother’s house… It truly made you very sad… but you can see how truly beautiful it was and how great Cuba was.”

Those Miami ties connect in football too. Fernando Sr. played at Christopher Columbus High School alongside Miami head coach Mario Cristobal before rowing at Brown and later attending the University of Florida for medical school and completing residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Cristobal, full of respect, once said of him: “Certainly he was an excellent football player and has become such a prominent member of the community down here in the medical field.”

“Miami-born QB ends Miami’s dream in Miami. Sports poetry.”

What this title means for Indiana football

Indiana’s first national championship changes the way the program is seen. Undefeated seasons do that. So do fearless plays in the biggest moments. The Hoosiers now have a banner and a belief system built on toughness and togetherness.

This kind of win builds a blueprint. It shows future players what Indiana stands for: a quarterback who can win with his arm (186 yards) and his feet (a title-clinching run), a staff that trusts its leader, and a locker room that rallies around a shared purpose. It is hard to build that from scratch. Indiana just did.

Numbers, poise, and the face of a season

Mendoza’s box score will not lead a video game. It does not need to. His night was about command and timing. He made the throws that kept drives alive. He protected the ball. And when every eye was on him and every heartbeat was loud, he chose the lane, hit the gas, and finished.

The picture of his mom and dad as he scored may be the lasting image of the season. It fits, because this run started long before kickoff. It started with a mother teaching courage while fighting MS. With a father treating children in crisis as a pediatric emergency physician. With sons who carry a family’s journey from Cuba to Miami to the Midwest—and now to college football’s mountaintop.

Final word: a title, a family, and a legacy

Indiana 27, Miami 21 will live in record books. Mendoza’s 12-yard fourth-down dash will live in highlight reels. But the story of the night was bigger: a program claiming its first crown and a family letting the world in on what that moment felt like.

In the end, the Hoosiers finished perfect. Their quarterback delivered when it mattered most. And his parents—whose love and grit helped build the foundation—saw their son fly over the goal line and into school history. That is a finish you do not forget.