Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza has been named as the 91st winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy, it was confirmed on Saturday night.

The quarterback — increasingly nicknamed ‘HeisMendoza’ by fans as the season progressed — secured a decisive victory in the voting, amassing 2,362 points and 643 first-place votes, to leave fellow finalists — Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (second with 1,435 points), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432) — trailing in his wake when the decision was announced during the annual ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.

A redshirt junior, Mendoza becomes the first Heisman winner in Indiana football history, with the programme’s previous best finish coming in 1989, when running back Anthony Thompson was runner-up. In his first season with the Hoosiers after transferring from California, Mendoza led the team to a perfect 13–0 record to also secure the school’s first-ever #1 national ranking, and a Big Ten Championship victory over Ohio State to earned the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The 6’ 5”, 225lb quarterback, originally from Miami, completed 226 of 316 passes for 2,980 yards and a nation-leading 33 touchdown passes, while adding 240 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. His 39 total touchdowns ranked second nationally, as he posted a 181.39 passer rating and finished the regular season with a 71.5 completion percentage. His 33 passing touchdowns and five games with at least four scoring throws both set Indiana single-season records.

Mendoza had already been recognised as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Quarterback of the Year, earned first-team All-Big Ten honours and collected multiple national awards, including the AP Player of the Year, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and Davey O’Brien Award. A two-star recruit playing for what was once the worst programme in Division I football proceeded to accept the award with a speech thanking his parents — mother Elsa has been secretly dealing with multiple sclerosis for much of the 18 years since diagnosis — that left much of the audience in tears.

“Mami, this is your trophy as much as it is mine,” Mendoza said. “You’ve always been my biggest fan, you’re my light, you’re my why and biggest supporter. Courage and love have been my first playbook, and the playbook that I carry at my side through my entire life. You tell me toughness doesn’t need to be loud, it can be quiet and strong, it’s choosing hope, it’s believing in yourself when the world doesn’t give you much reason to. Together, you and I, are defying what people think is possible. I love you.

“Papi, thank you for grounding me, thank you for holding me accountable when it was tough, thank you for reminding me that talent means nothing with out discipline, without consistency. You personified commitment. You picked all of us up whenever we needed it most.

“This is an important one, I want every kid out there who feels overlooked and underestimated [to know that] I was you. I was that kid too, I was in your shoes. The truth is, you don’t need the most stars, hype or rankings, you just need discipline, heart and people who believe in you and your own abilities. I hope this moment shows you that chasing your dreams are worth it no matter how big or impossible they seem.”

Mendoza’s Heisman win continues a recent trend, making him the seventh transfer player to win the trophy in the past nine years and the fourth consecutive transfer recipient. Mendoza is the 39th quarterback to earn college football’s most prestigious individual honour — but only the second Heisman winner to wear the #15 jersey, joining Tim Tebow, who triumphed in 2007.

Behind Mendoza, Pavia similarly delivered Vanderbilt’s highest Heisman finish, while Love recorded Notre Dame’s best showing since linebacker Manti Te’o’s runner-up finish in 2012. Sayin’s fourth-place result marked Ohio State’s top finish since 2023.

Voting was conducted by 930 electors, including media members, living Heisman winners and a fan ballot, with results tabulated independently by Deloitte.