MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Once the laughingstock of college football, the Indiana Hoosiers got the last laugh on Monday night.

The Hoosiers completed a perfect season, holding off Miami 27-21 to capture the program’s first national championship in college football. Top-ranked Indiana (16-0), which began the 2025 season as the losingest program in the history of college football, used a bruising defense and the heroic play of quarterback Fernando Mendoza to hold off the gritty Hurricanes (13-3) in the College Football Playoff title game.

“Don’t put no limitations on us,” Indiana receiver Elijah Sarratt said. “Indiana just isn’t little ol’ Indiana anymore.”

“Let me tell you: We won the national championship at Indiana University,” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said. “It can be done.”

With its victory before 67,227 fans at Hard Rock Stadium, Indiana became the first major college football team to go 16-0 since Yale in 1894. Tenth-ranked Miami, which was seeking its sixth national championship and barely squeaked into the 12-team CFP playoff with the final at-large bid, put up a game fight. It took an interception by Indiana’s Jamari Sharpe at the Indiana 7 with 44 seconds left to end Miami’s championship dreams.

“We had an opportunity, all the way to the end,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.

Mendoza, meanwhile, was beaten and bloodied by Miami’s hard-nosed defense, but maintained his poise to steer the Hoosiers to victory.

Indiana got it done by getting off the deck every time Miami scored in the second half, countering with long drives and the clutch play of Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner whose passes to receiver Charlie Becker extended fourth-quarter drives.

Mendoza, who was named the game’s top offensive player, scored on a 12-yard quarterback draw run up the middle on fourth-and-5 put the Hoosiers ahead 24-14 with 9:18 left in the game.

“Fernando, he’s the toughest kid I know,” said tight end Riley Nowakowski, who scored the game’s first touchdown to give Indiana a 10-0 halftime lead.

Mendoza completed 16 of 27 passes for 186 yards to become the 10th quarterback – and 18th player overall — to win a Heisman Trophy and a national championship in the same season. Mendoza, who played football about 30 minutes away from Hard Rock Stadium at Columbus High School, turned in the play of the game midway through the fourth quarter, with Miami beginning to take control and trailing only 17-14.

Mendoza had already completed a fourth-and-5 pass to Becker for 19 yards that gave Indiana a first down at the Miami 18. Facing fourth-and-5 from the Miami 12, Cignetti called a timeout and decided to pass up on a field goal for a chance to extend the Hoosiers’ lead to 10 points.

“(Cignetti) said, ‘we’re going for it,’” offensive tackle Carter Smith said. “So sit in there and do your job.”

On a designed quarterback draw, Mendoza gained enough for the first down but kept going, bouncing off tacklers before lunging into the end zone to complete a 12-yard touchdown run and put the Hoosiers ahead 24-14 with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter.

“That kid will walk through hell and back for this team,” Smith said.

“I had to go airborne,” said Mendoza, who prevailed despite being sacked three times on the night and hit many more times. “I would die for my team.”

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended at the game. Trump waved to the crowd during the singing of the national anthem by Jamal Rivers, the season 23 winner of “American Idol.” Tom Brady, who won seven Super Bowl titles, was also in attendance. So was Bernie Kosar, who led Miami to its first national title at the Orange Bowl after the 1983 season.

Miami was trying to become the first team in the CFP era to win a national title at its home stadium.

Indiana scored first, with Nico Radicic’s 34-yard field goal capping a 12-play, 55-yard drive that gave the Hoosiers a 3-0 lead with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

The Hoosiers extended their lead to 10-0 midway through the second quarter. Becker caught a pass that originally went for a 20-yard touchdown, but the play was reversed after review, giving Indiana a first-and-goal at the Miami 5. On third down, Nowakowski powered for 1 yard and a score with 6:13 remaining in the half.

The drive capped a 15-play, 85-yard drive that chewed up 6:44.

Miami, which had been stalled on several drives in the first half, finally put together a drive in the waning moments of the second quarter. But Carter Davis missed a 50-yard field goal with 33 seconds left before the intermission.

The Hurricanes finally broke through early in the third quarter when Mark Fletcher Jr. took a handoff, turned the right corner and galloped for a 57-yard touchdown run. Davis’ extra point trimmed Indiana’s lead to 10-7 with 11:06 remaining in the period.

Indiana caught a break with 5:04 left in the third quarter when Mikail Kamara, who was named the defensive player of the game, blocked Dylan Joyce’s punt deep in Miami territory. The loose ball was recovered in the end zone by Isaiah Jones, and the extra point gave the Hoosiers a 17-7 lead.

Fletcher, who finished the game with 112 yards rushing, scored his second touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, barreling up the middle for 3 yards. The extra point cut Miami’s deficit to 17-14.

But Indiana came back, converting twice on fourth down, to regain a 10-point lead. Becker’s 19-yard catch on fourth-and-5 gave Indiana a first down at the Miami 18. Then, Mendoza’s 12-yard run put the Hoosiers ahead 24-14.

Miami refused to buckle, answering back with freshman Malachi Toney’s twisting, weaving catch-and-run after a shovel pass for a 22-yard touchdown with 6:37 remaining. It was the fifth touchdown of the second half for both teams, and Indiana’s lead again was only three points (24-21).

Another key catch by Becker on a third-and-7 play kept Indiana’s offense on the field and ate up 4:52 of the clock. Radicic’s 35-yard field goal with 1:42 left gave Indiana a 27-21 lead.

Miami’s Carson Beck finished 19 of 32 for 232 yards and a touchdown pass.

“I think it can’t be understated what these guys have done,” Cristobal said. “The ability to take a team on Nov. 1 that was lower than low, and to find a way to every single day hold people accountable, demand the best of them, bring energy and enthusiasm to practice and get the results on a weekly basis, a 1-0 for I think seven weeks straight, it is a testament to what they are.

“Again, they’re the best thing that’s happened to Miami, the University of Miami and our community in 25 years.”

“To even have that opportunity to have a chance to win the game at the end says a lot about this team and about us,” Beck said. “Just super proud of these guys and super thankful for them. And it really hurts and it’s hard, the way that it ended.”

With the victory, Indiana became the first first-time national title winner since Florida in 1996. The Hoosiers also became the third consecutive Big Ten team to win a national title, following Michigan and Ohio State.

In 2022, Indiana became the first Division I college football team to lose 700 games. Since Cignetti came to Bloomington, the Hoosiers are 27-2.

Nobody is laughing at Indiana now.

“It starts with belief,” offensive guard Pat Coogan said. “Sometimes the belief has to be a little irrational, right?”

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