College Football Playoff national championship: A Florida viewer's guide
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Miami is playing for a national championship for the first time since 2003. Indiana is relying on a pair of native Floridians to help the Hoosiers win their first national championship.
The College Football Playoff national championship game is Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and it’s very likely that players from Florida high schools will have a big hand in the outcome.
For the first time since 1996, both quarterbacks in the national championship game are from Florida high schools.
The game features three consensus All-Americans: Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa and Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr.. All three are from Florida high schools.
The list of native Floridians also includes Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP Mark Fletcher Jr. (Miami), Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP Carson Beck (Miami), Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl Defensive MVP D’Angelo Ponds (Indiana) and Peach Bowl Offensive MVP Mendoza.
Here is a Florida viewer’s guide to the CFP Championship Game.
Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza
Indiana redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza (Columbus) is the first Heisman Trophy winner from a Florida high school since Lamar Jackson (Boynton Beach) in 2016. Mendoza has thrown for 3,349 yards and a national-best 41 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He has completed 31 of 36 passes (86.1 completion percentage) with eight touchdowns and no interceptions in two College Football Playoff games.
All-Florida QB CFP Championship Game
For the first time in CFP history, both starting quarterbacks are from Florida high schools. Miami’s Carson Beck (Mandarin) and Mendoza took very different paths in college. Beck was a four-star recruit who won a pair of national titles as a backup at Georgia before transferring to Miami for this season. Mendoza was the 288th rated player in Florida on the 247Sports composite rankings in the 2022 class, signed with Cal and transferred to Indiana for this season.
Christopher Columbus High School connections
Columbus High School in Miami will be well represented in the CFP championship game. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal and Mendoza’s father, Fernando Mendoza Sr., were offensive linemen together at Columbus in the 1980s. Five players in the game are Columbus graduates: Indiana quarterbacks Fernando and Alberto Mendoza, Miami defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald, Miami offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez and Miami defensive lineman Daylen Russell.
Can Mario Cristobal guide his alma mater to the title?
Cristobal is attempting to become the third coach in the past five seasons to lead his alma mater to a national championship. Georgia’s Kirby Smart accomplished the feat in both 2021 and 2022. Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh led the Wolverines to the 2023 title. Cristobal won two national championships (1989, 1991) as an offensive tackle for the Hurricanes.
Indiana’s Florida-heavy secondary
Three Hoosiers starting defensive backs — cornerbacks D’Angelo Ponds (Chaminade-Madonna) and Jamari Sharpe (Miami Northwestern) and safety Amare Ferrell (Columbia) — are from Florida high schools. Ponds earned first-team All-Big Ten and All-American honors, while Ferrell earned second-team all-conference honors. Ponds was named the Defensive MVP in both the Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl.
Future first round NFL Draft picks
Mendoza is on pace to be the first pick in the NFL Draft, especially with Oregon quarterback Dante Moore opting to return to the Ducks for the 2026 season. Miami edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami Central) and Ahkeem Mesidor (Clearwater Academy International) and offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa (IMG) also expected to be first round picks in April. If either Mauigoa or Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate are taken in the first round, it would extend IMG’s streak of having a player taken in the first round to seven years.
Miami starters from Florida high schools
Offense: QB Carson Beck (Mandarin), RB Mark Fletcher Jr. (American Heritage), WR Malachi Toney (American Heritage), OT Francis Mauigoa (IMG), IOL Matthew McCoy (Creekside)
Defense: EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami Central), EDGE Ahkeem Mesidor (Clearwater Academy International), DL Ahmad Moten Sr. (Cardinal Gibbons), LB Wesley Bissainthe (Miami Central), CB OJ Frederique (St. Thomas Aquinas), S Zechariah Poyser (Wildwood)
Special Teams: K Carter Davis (Western)
Indiana starters from Florida high schools
Offense: QB Fernando Mendoza (Columbus)
Defense: LB Rolijah Hardy (Lakeland), CB D’Angelo Ponds (Chaminade-Madonna), CB Jamari Sharpe (Miami Northwestern), S Amare Ferrell (Columbia)
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: National championship game: What a watch in Miami vs Indiana
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