Fernando Mendoza is 2025 Heisman winner. 4 moments that defined season

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Fernando Mendoza has been on an incredible journey from his home in Miami to the Calgorithm to No. 1 Indiana. And now the Heismendoza campaign (unofficial, as he and his school haven’t officially promoted his candidacy) has kept the Heisman Trophy in the hands of a South Florida native for the second straight year.

Mendoza won college football’s top honor over Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love. Earlier in the week, the Indiana quarterback claimed the AP Player of the Year award. He’ll lead the 13-0 Hoosiers to just their second Rose Bowl ever in January as the top-seeded team in the College Football Playoff.

Firsts have been a running theme throughout Mendoza’s incredible season. The 22-year-old who starred at Christopher Columbus High School is the first Heisman winner of Cuban descent and just the third with Latino or Hispanic heritage. He is the first Indiana player to win it, as well, as part of the program’s first outright Big Ten championship team since 1945. The night before, Mendoza became IU’s first Davey O’Brien winner as the nation’s top quarterback, as well as its second Maxwell Award winner for player of the year.

Mendoza led FBS with 33 touchdown passes and, adding in his six rushing scores, was responsible for 39 for the season, second only to USF’s Byrum Brown. The redshirt junior threw for 2,980 yards on a .715 completion percentage with just six interceptions, and his 181.4 passer efficiency rating was second only to Sayin. He made his mark early on, throwing for four touchdowns in his second game after transferring from California and following that up with five TDs in back-to-back games. His 2-minute drive and unbelievable touchdown to beat Penn State in November broke the voice of Fox’s Gus Johnson in one of the biggest moments of the 2025 college football season.

MORE ON THE FAMILY: Why Fernando Mendoza’s mom inspires him while living with MS

Mendoza now gets to celebrate with his family. He can keep the party going in his own quarterback room, as little brother Alberto Mendoza is his backup at Indiana. He can live it up with his father, also named Fernando Mendoza, who played alongside Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal in high school. And he can enjoy the moment with his mom, Elsa Mendoza, whom he has frequently called his inspiration and guiding light as she lives with multiple sclerosis.

Who won Heisman Trophy?

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia came in second, followed by Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and then Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin.

Fernando Mendoza’s top plays, ranked

  1. Touchdown pass to Omar Cooper in the final minute at Penn State (Nov. 8)
  2. 33-yard bomb on third down to put away Ohio State in Big Ten championship (Dec. 6)
  3. Game-winning touchdown to Elijah Sarratt at Oregon (Oct. 11)
  4. Second straight five-touchdown game vs. Illinois (Sept. 20)

Heisman voting results

  1. Fernando Mendoza (Indiana QB): 2,392 points — 643 first-place votes
  2. Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt QB): 1,435 points — 189 first-place votes
  3. Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame RB): 719 points — 46 first-place votes
  4. Julian Sayin (Ohio State QB): 432 points — 8 first-place votes

Fernando Mendoza highlights

The Hoosiers were at risk of losing their first game of the season Nov. 8 at Penn State. Trailing by four with 1:51 left, Mendoza opened Indiana’s drive by getting sacked at his own 13-yard line. He went to work from there, going 4 of 6 for 80 yards to get to the 7-yard line. The defense turned it on to force incompletions on the next two plays, and then rushed him up on the middle on third down with 36 second left. While falling away, Mendoza threw a dart in the back of the end zone, where Omar Cooper somehow brought it in with one toe scraping the grass in play for a go-ahead touchdown that led Fox announcer Gus Johnson to declare: “Give that man the Heisman!”

In a defensive struggle for the Big Ten championship, Mendoza had thrown a nice back-shoulder bullet to Elijah Sarratt early in the second half to give Indiana a 13-10 lead. That score held when Ohio State missed what would have been a game-tying field goal with less than 3 minutes to go. On third down after two straight rushes to force the Buckeyes into using their timeouts, Mendoza let loose a gorgeous moonball to Charlie Becker for 33 yards, putting the ball past midfield and all but icing the game, the No. 1 playoff seed and the Heisman Trophy.

How many Heismans has Indiana won?

Until Mendoza, Indiana has never had a Heisman winner. The closest was running back Anthony Thompson, who was the runner-up to Houston quarterback Andre Ware in 1989.

How many Cuban players have won the Heisman?

Mendoza becomes the first player of Cuban descent to win the Heisman Trophy. He is the third player of Latino or Hispanic descent to earn the award: Stanford’s Jim Plunkett (1970) was of Mexican-American heritage, and the grandfather of Alabama’s Bryce Young (2021) was born in Mexico.

Heisman winners list

Here are the past 10 winners of the Heisman Trophy:

  • 2025: Fernando Mendoza (Indiana QB)
  • 2024: Travis Hunter (Colorado WR/CB)
  • 2023: Jayden Daniels (LSU QB)
  • 2022: Caleb Williams (USC QB)
  • 2021: Bryce Young (Alabama QB)
  • 2020: DeVonta Smith (Alabama WR)
  • 2019: Joe Burrow (LSU QB)
  • 2018: Kyler Murray (Oklahoma QB)
  • 2017: Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma QB)
  • 2016: Lamar Jackson (Louisville QB)

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Heisman Trophy. Highlights from his season

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