Indiana Center Pat Coogan Wins Rose Bowl MVP, But Calls It a Team Award

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PASADENA, Calif. — Every time Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won a national player of the year award this year — including the prestigious Heisman Trophy — he was quick to always deflect praise and give most of the credit to his teammates. "There are 22 of us starting, not just me,'' he'd often say.

He's a team-first guy. Mendoza is also surrounded by teammates cut from the same cloth. And that's why when center Pat Coogan was surprisingly named the Rose Bowl MVP on Thursday after Indiana's 38-3 dismantling of Alabama, his teammates on the postgame stage mobbed him hugs and hearty pats on the back. The fifth-year senior who transferred from Notre Dame in the offseason became the first offensive lineman in more than 80 years to win an MVP award in the Rose Bowl. That last lineman was USC’s Norm Verry in 1944. 

And the first thing Coogan did was praise his teammates, too.

"It's pretty great,'' Coogan said of winning the award. "It's probably the first, if I had to guess, offensive lineman MVP, but it's all a credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for, first of all, just believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense and fully entrusting in me and my abilities.

"A credit to all my teammates. These guys are unbelievable. The belief that we have in each other, the ability to bounce off of each other and say, 'hey, what are you thinking?'  or 'do you see that?' It's just been, kind of like I said before, never-ending growth, never ending improvement.''

Indiana's offensive line has played a high level all year, with Coogan at the center of it all. Left tackle Carter Smith was named the Big. Ten's offensive lineman of the year, and right tackle Khalil Benson has played well at right tackle. Guard Bray Lynch and Drew Evans have been exceptional as well, and they work well as a unit.

"He's a really good player,” Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad told the Indianapolis Star. “He understands defense, he understands what we are trying to accomplish up front. He's got great communication skills and gets everyone on the same page. That's the start, guys line up, play physical, and bought in, he's an easy guy to follow."

“You know what? He deserves (the MVP award, but Pat will be the first one to tell you it was all five guys."

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti praised Coogan for all he's done at Indiana. He's been a vocal leader since he arrived in the spring, and has fit right in after Mike Katic graduated in 2024. Much like Mendoza, it's all about the team, not any individual spotlight. 

Yeah, I think you hit it right on the head,'' when asked what it meant to him to see someone like Coogan be honored with the MVP award. "I am, at this point, probably used to it. Fernando's a very special guy. He's very unique. He's selfless. He's the ultimate team guy. And then we've got some other guys, like Coogan, who is really the same way. He's the ultimate team guy.

"We've got a lot of other guys on the team that played last year, like (linebacker Aiden) Fisher, Carter Smith, just to name two. I could name a lot more that are ultimate team guys. I think that's one of the reasons that we're so consistent and efficient. We are efficient, is how I would label us, is because we have good players with very high character. They're great team guys and really good leaders, and they listen and they buy in.''

Indiana's offensive line broke Alabama's will in the blowout, the worst postseason loss in Alabama history. The Hoosiers rushed for 215 yards with punishing blocking and hard running from its backs. They ran for more yards than Alabama' entire offense gained, just 193 all day. 

"Indiana did a great job of playing their game and stuff like that,'' Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan said. "Evidently, I wasn't good enough to do my job better. Our defense, we didn't make the stops that we needed to and stuff like that. So they capitalized on our mistakes. Indiana had a great plan for us and they executed well. They came out, they did what they had to do.''

Now it's on to the national semifinals for Indiana. The No. 1 seed takes on No. 5 Oregon next Friday night in Atlanta. An Indiana team with no football history — at least not anything good — is just two games away from winning a national championship. 

Coogan is thrilled with the first 14 wins, but there's more to do — and more time for the Hoosiers to get better.

"There's certainly a lot of things we have to clean up, especially in that fourth quarter,'' Coogan said. "Stuff was moving pretty fast, and we were kind of sloppy, especially up front.

"And it all starts with me. I'm the center of it all. I've got to make sure the guys are on the right page. But it's a credit to my teammates for just being just studs.''

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