Six Indiana players to watch in national title game vs. Miami Hurricanes

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The Miami Hurricanes face long odds in the national title game against Indiana.

The Hoosiers are undefeated and beat their two College Football Playoff opponents by a combined score of 94-25. Featuring the Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and a roster full of talent, Indiana is looking to win the first national title in program history.

Here are six players who will be key to helping the Hoosiers achieve that:

Fernando Mendoza, quarterback

Mendoza has been one of the biggest stories in college football this season. The Miami Columbus High alum nearly went to Yale before Cal gave him an offer. After performing well with the Golden Bears, he transferred to the Hoosiers in the offseason.

When Mendoza got to Indiana, he became the nation’s best quarterback. Mendoza has completed 73 percent of his passes this season for 3,349 yards and 41 touchdowns. He has thrown only six interceptions. Pro Football Focus gives the Heisman winner a 91 passing grade, which is second-best in the nation. Six times this season — including in two playoff games — he has completed 85 percent or more of his passes.

The Miami native has been even better in the playoffs. In two playoff games, he has more touchdown passes (eight) than incompletions (five).

Mendoza has few weaknesses. He can throw the ball downfield well, and he holds his own in the pocket even when under pressure. Mendoza has the second-best PFF passing grade when pressured (among quarterbacks with 30 or more pressured dropbacks), completing 51.3 percent of his passes when under pressure (34th nationally). He has thrown only two interceptions when pressured.

Miami will need to pressure Mendoza often and get him on the ground to keep him from dicing up the secondary.

Carter Smith, offensive tackle

The top player keeping Mendoza from getting sacked is Smith, the Indiana left tackle. The redshirt junior has been one of the nation’s best offensive linemen; he was a consensus All-American and was named the Big 10 Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Smith has a 93.7 pass-blocking grade from PFF, which is the second-best mark in the nation. He has allowed just six quarterback pressures and no sacks this season.

The Hurricanes’ pass-rush has overcome top offensive linemen in the playoffs, though. The only player with a higher pass-blocking grade than Smith is Texas A&M tackle Trey Zuhn III, and the Hurricanes sacked Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed seven times. Zuhn gave up one sack in that game after giving up only one sack all season, according to PFF.

Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper, wide receivers

The Hoosiers’ dynamic duo of wide receivers have excelled all season.

Cooper is the team’s leader in catches (64) and receiving yards (866), and he is second on the team with 12 touchdown catches — including arguably the best catch of the season, which secured Indiana’s win over Penn State. PFF gives him an 85.2 receiving grade, which is eighth among Power 4 receivers with 50 targets or more.

Sarratt has been just as good. He has 62 catches for 806 yards and a team-best 14 touchdown catches despite missing nearly a month of the season. PFF gives him an 88.9 receiving grade, which is fourth in the nation.

Miami was successful in slowing down Ohio State’s pair of excellent receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. Smith still had a great game against the Hurricanes, but Tate had just three catches for 37 yards. The Hurricanes are in a tougher spot in this game, though. Cornerback Xavier Lucas is suspended for the first half of the title game due to a targeting penalty, and fellow cornerback OJ Frederique Jr. played just five snaps against Ole Miss (UM coach Mario Cristobal said Frederique will be able to play in the title game).

Rolijah Hardy, linebacker

Hardy has excelled near the line of scrimmage for the Hoosiers this season. The sophomore Lakeland native leads Indiana with eight sacks and is third on the team with 15 tackles for loss.

PFF also attributes Hardy with 45 run stops. The site gives Hardy a 91.1 run-defense grade, which is the second-best mark among linebackers with 200 or more run-defense snaps. He also has a 76.8 pass-rushing grade. He does struggle in coverage, earning just a 42.9 coverage grade.

D’Angelo Ponds, cornerback

South Florida football fans may remember Ponds from his time at Chaminade-Madonna when he was a teammate of current Hurricanes Jojo Trader and Chris Ewald Jr., as well as other stars like the Buckeyes’ Smith and N.C. State quarterback CJ Bailey.

Ponds has become a star in his own right. After an excellent freshman season under coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison, he followed Cignetti to Indiana and became one of the nation’s top cornerbacks. Ponds has 56 tackles and two interceptions this season. PFF gave him an 87.7 defensive grade, which is seventh-best among all cornerbacks.

Ponds will likely be lined up against one of Miami’s outside cornerbacks — typically CJ Daniels or Keelan Marion — giving those receivers a tough task.

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