No. 1 Indiana held off the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes 27-21 on Jan. 19 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship, securing the first national title in program history and bookending a flawless 16-0 season.
The victory, sealed by a game-clinching interception from Jamari Sharpe in the final moments, marks the culmination of a stunning two-year ascent under head coach Curt Cignetti. It is a crowning achievement for a team built not on five-star recruiting rankings, but on resilience, belief and a core that followed Cignetti from James Madison University.
“It’s a great thing, Indiana winning the National Championship two years into our tenure,” Cignetti said. “You do it with people and a plan … It probably is one of the greatest sports stories of all time.”
The game was a defensive struggle for three quarters. Indiana’s top-ranked defense set the tone early, limiting Miami to 18 total yards in the first quarter. Kicker Nicolas Radicic gave the Hoosiers a 3-0 lead after one. Tight end Riley Nowakowski rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter, securing a 10-0 Hoosiers halftime advantage.
Miami (14-2), led by quarterback Carson Beck and bruising running back Mark Fletcher Jr., fought back. Fletcher’s 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter cut the lead to 10-7, but Indiana responded immediately. On the ensuing drive, facing 4th-and-1 at the Miami 12-yard line, Cignetti made the decisive call of the night.
He eschewed a field goal and kept his offense on the field. Quarterback and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza took the snap, hesitated, then surged forward on a quarterback draw. He broke through the line, trucked a defender near the 5-yard line and willed himself into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 17-7.
“We always bet on ourselves,” Mendoza said of the key play. “It wasn’t the perfect coverage for it, but I trust my linemen… We were all putting our bodies on the line, so it was the least I could do for my brothers.”
The play exemplified Mendoza’s night and his leadership. Harassed by Miami’s fierce pass rush, Mendoza finished 16-of-27 for 186 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, adding that crucial rushing score. His efficiency and poise, despite being sacked three times and taking several hard hits, steadied the Hoosier offense.
“Let me tell you, he (Mendoza) has the heart of a lion when it comes to competition,” Cignetti said. “That guy competes like a warrior.”
Despite IU’s momentum, Miami refused to fade.
Fletcher scored again early in the fourth frame to make it 20-14. Radicic hit a 42-yard field goal to push Indiana’s lead to 23-14, but Beck answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass to pull the Hurricanes within 23-21 with 4:32 remaining.
Needing to drain the clock, Indiana’s offense delivered one final, methodical drive.
Key runs by Kaelon Black (79 yards) and Roman Hemby (60 yards) set up another Radicic field goal, this time from 34 yards, making it a six-point game with just over a minute left.
Miami had one last chance, starting at its own 25-yard line. Beck drove the Hurricanes near midfield, but on 2nd-and-10, Sharpe read a pass over the middle, stepped in front of the receiver and secured the championship-clinching interception.
Beyond Sharpe’s pick, defensive end Mikail Kamara blocked a punt that led to a field goal and the unit held a potent Miami rushing attack to 112 yards after Fletcher’s early explosions.
The victory sends Indiana into the history books. The Hoosiers are the first team in the modern CFP era to finish 16-0. They have won 27 of their last 29 games under Cignetti, who was hired just over two years ago to resurrect a moribund program.
For a university renowned as a basketball powerhouse, the National Championship win signals a new era.
“The emphasis is on football,” Cignetti said. “It’s on basketball, too. But you’ve got to be good in football nowadays… We’ve got a fan base, the largest alumni base in the country… They’re all in. We’ve got a lot of momentum.”
As the final second ticked away, Mendoza — the Miami native playing for a championship in his backyard — dropped to his knees in excitement. The quarterback whose transfer decision made this all possible was at the center of a storybook ending.
“It’s the pinnacle,” Mendoza said, his typically media-trained demeanor giving way to raw emotion. “All season … on to the next game, on to the next play and now we did it.”
Contact Multimedia Reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846. Follow him on X @3Noral. For more news, click here.
Noral Parham is the multi-media & senior sports reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
