Fernando Mendoza sends blunt message to Tom Brady after Indiana’s improbable championship run

The Indiana Hoosiers have done it.

Two years ago, if you told a college football fan that Indiana would be standing on a podium amidst a blizzard of crimson and cream confetti, they’d have asked you to take a breathalyzer.

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Tonight, that impossible fever dream became reality.

With a 27-21 victory over Miami at Hard Rock Stadium, Indiana has completed a 16-0 season, capturing their first-ever national championship and cementing the greatest turnaround in the history of American sports.

Led by Heisman Trophy–winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the heavy favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, Indiana completed an improbable run to a championship.

With Mark Davis and Tom Brady in the building, Mendoza went full Brady in his postgame interview, dropping an F-bomb that quickly went viral.

While Rece Davis was interviewing Mendoza on the postgame podium, the usually quirky and lovable Indiana quarterback accidentally let one fly in the moment.

“I love you guys, great job, let’s f**** go!” Mendoza screamed in celebration with a wide smile.

If there was ever an appropriate time for an f-bomb, that was the moment.

When Curt Cignetti walked into Bloomington in late 2023, he didn’t ask for patience. He didn’t talk about five-year plans. He famously told the skeptics to “Google me” because he wins.

He wasn’t lying.

Cignetti took the losingest major program in the country and transformed it into a clinical, ruthless juggernaut.

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In just two seasons, Indiana went from the Big Ten cellar to toppling the blue bloods. They didn’t just beat Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon this year; they dismantled the very idea that Indiana couldn’t compete at that level.

The game’s defining image won’t be a long bomb or a flashy sprint. It will be Mendoza, the Cal transfer and Miami native, tucking the ball on a 4th-and-4 with nine minutes left.

Mendoza, who was bloodied by a brutal Miami pass rush early on, refused to slide. He bulldozed through two defenders, spun, and went horizontal to break the plane for a 12-yard touchdown.

“I had to go airborne,” Mendoza said after the game. “I would die for my team.”

That touchdown gave Indiana the 24-14 cushion they needed to survive a late surge from Miami’s Carson Beck and freshman sensation Malachi Toney.

When Miami had one last chance to drive 75 yards for a miracle, it was another Miami native Jamari Sharpe who tracked down a deep shot from Beck for the game-sealing interception.

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A poetic ending: a kid from Miami ending the Hurricanes’ hopes to bring a title back to Bloomington.

This wasn’t a Cinderella run. Cinderellas turn back into pumpkins at midnight. This Indiana team was the No. 1 seed for a reason. They were better coached, more disciplined, and more physical than every blue blood they faced.

The “Same Old Indiana” jokes are dead. In their place stands a national champion that has changed the blueprint for how to build a program in the NIL and transfer portal era.

Cignetti told us he wins. Tonight, the rest of the world had no choice but to believe him. Now Brady and the Raiders have a chance to draft the catalyst behind the entire operation.

And maybe after watching Mendoza in person, Brady might just see a little bit of himself in the endearing Hoosier.