Curt Cignetti: Officials missed 'obvious personal fouls' on Fernando Mendoza
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Editor’s Note: Indiana is playing Miami football in the CFP national championship game. Follow live updates here.
Indiana football finds itself one half away from reaching the mountaintop of college football, as the Hoosiers lead No. 10 Miami 10-0 at halftime in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
That wasn’t what Hoosiers’ coach Curt Cignetti wanted to talk about as he exited the field after the second quarter. Instead, the 64-year-old coach spent his 30-second hit with ESPN’s Holly Rowe blasting the officiating in the first half at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Three personal fouls on the quarterback that weren’t called on one drive,” Cignetti said. “I’m all for letting them play, but when you cross the line, you got to call it. And they weren’t, they were black and white calls.”
“I’m all for letting them play, but when you cross the line you gotta call it.”
—Curt Cignetti to @sportsiren on the hits Fernando Mendoza took in the first half. pic.twitter.com/5Oh0xDXavF
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 20, 2026
One of those missed calls that Cignetti appears to be alluding to came on third-and-4 at the 4:04 mark of the first quarter, when officials missed a targeting call against Miami’s Jakobe Thomas. The Hurricanes defensive back laid a hit on Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza after he handed the ball off to running back Kaelon Black. ESPN rules analyst Bill LeMonnier said it should have been a targeting call, which would have led to an ejection for Thomas.
Mendoza came up off the field following the hit with a bloody lip, but stayed in the game. Indiana hit a 34-yard field goal from Nicolas Radicic just a few plays later to open up the scoring of the national championship game.
Indiana extended its lead to 10-0 in the first half with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Riley Nowakowski at the end of a 14-play drive that went 85 yards and took 6:44 off the game clock. Miami kicker Carter Davis missed a 50-yard field goal attempt just before halftime, as the kick attempt hit off the right goalpost.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Curt Cignetti says refs missed ‘obvious personal fouls’ on Fernando Mendoza
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