MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Fernando Mendoza might be a hoarder.
That's the best we can do in an effort to find something "wrong" with Indiana's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. Hoosiers receiver Charlie Becker can confirm his roommate's quarterback's "fatal flaw."
"He just gets so many packages and our garage has become a fortress of boxes at this point," Becker told AllSportsPeople at CFP Championship Media Day at the Miami Convention Center on Saturday. "It's hilarious."
Too many packages. Gotcha, Fernando.
Mendoza is 31 of 36 passing for an average of 184.5 passing yards with eight TDs and no interceptions in two College Football Playoff blowouts against No. 9 Alabama and No. 5 Oregon. The Hoosiers (15-0) play No. 10 Miami (13-2) in the College Football Playoff championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Mendoza has been as close to perfect as possible. Just do not tell him that.
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"I would say that no one's perfect," Mendoza said at CFP Championship Media Day at the Miami Convention Center on Saturday. "The only person I believe is perfect is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have a lot of flaws in myself. For example, my roommates, we won't mess with the boxes. Boxes will come in when we order the package, it's kind of there in the living room. I would say I'm a little messy in that way."
Mendoza is without a doubt the main attraction in this game. He attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. He has been outspoken in his faith and his dedication to his mother Elsa, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. Coach Curt Cignetti and Mendoza are the centerpieces of the improbable rise of Indiana football. The trouble with Mendoza is there is no trouble at all, no matter how hard we look.
"He's exactly what you see, on the internet, in person, at our house," Becker said. "He's one of the best humans. He's just a great person."
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti on Fernando Mendoza
The odd-couple dynamic between Cignetti – who is 26-2 since taking over at Indiana – and Mendoza is well-documented. Mendoza transferred to Indiana from Cal ahead of this season. He's passed for 3,349 yards, 41 TDs and six interceptions with a 73% completion percentage, yet Cignetti finds avenues for improvement.
"No matter how good he plays, there's always corrections on tape from the game before, which the process is we come in on Sunday as a staff, quick staff meeting, and then we break up offensive, defensive staffs and I watch the tape closely with the offensive staff," Cignetti said. "There's always things that he could have done a little better."
Yet even Cignetti admits there has not been one sideline confrontation with his quarterback. It's a business-as-usual relationship.
"I've never really had a heated exchange," Cignetti said. "I can only think of one time early in the season, I think it was Indiana State, where he made a couple poor decisions in the red area, whether to pull the ball or give the ball off or maybe one time throw the bubble or give it to the back. … I think that's the only time I ever had to really kind of make a point where I felt like my point needed to be made."
Indiana faces a Miami defense that leads the FBS with 47 sacks, led by Rueben Bain Jr. And Akheem Mesidor. Miami coach Mario Cristobal – who attended Christopher Columbus High School with Fernando Mendoza Sr. – knows the challenge of facing a Mendoza-led offense.
"Sometimes you hit quarterbacks and they get fazed, they get knocked around a little bit," Cristobal said. "There's no fazing him. The more he gets hit, the tougher he gets, and it's something that's very admirable because a lot of quarterbacks can't do that. So he's the total package."
Fernando Mendoza can be next Heisman QB to win national title
Mendoza drew the largest crowd at his podium at Media Day. He wore a permanent smile through three-deep questions about the Indiana football story that captivated college football the last two seasons.
Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl and routed Oregon 56-22 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. According to Pro Football Focus, Mendoza is 12 of 16 for 342 yards, six TDs and no interceptions on passes of 10 yards or more in those two games. Yet he knows the assignment Monday.
"I would say everyone is going to remember this game," Mendoza said. "It's my duty to Hoosier football and my teammates to put my focus and preparation into this game because although it's great, winning the Heisman, winning the Rose and Peach Bowl, everyone is going to remember how I finished. It's going to leave – remember the taste it left in everyone's mouth. Hopefully we leave with a good taste on Monday."
The Mendoza phenomenon isn't quite at the level of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow – a two-time national champion who won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore in 2007. Yet every Heisman Trophy-winning QB to play for a national championship has been judged by that standard.
Tebow led Florida past Oklahoma's Sam Bradford in a 24-14 victory in the 2009 BCS championship game. Oregon's Marcus Mariota (2014) and Alabama's Bryce Young (2021) lost CFP championship games at the end of their Heisman seasons.
Auburn's Cam Newton (2010), Florida State's Jameis Winston (2013) and LSU's Joe Burrow (2019) won the national championship during that Heisman season – and all three ensured their iconic status within the sport. All three also went on to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
How Indiana fares will be a huge part of how Mendoza is remembered.
Will Fernando Mendoza feel-good story continue?
Now, let's back to all those packages. Mendoza admits to pitching boxes anywhere – especially close to Becker's room on the middle floor of an apartment shared with brother Alberto Mendoza, kicker Quinn Warren and defensive lineman Mario Landino. Yet Fernando Mendoza's room is self-described as "OCD and tidy." At least the movie choices within the apartment are agreed upon.
"We all love rom-coms," Becker said. "That's our go-to. Just a nice Adam Sandler rom-com."
For all the light-heartedness, Becker is quick to point out the impact Mendoza made on the program after transferring from Cal last season. Indiana finished 11-2 in 2025, but there were doubts after top-10 losses to Ohio State and Notre Dame. This year, Indiana is 15-0 and in the greatest-teams-of-all-time-discussion. The connection between Mendoza with Becker and receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. Is at the highest level.
"That's a testament to how hard Fernando has worked," Becker said. "Immediately when he got here, he was in the film room, studying plays, making sure he knew the formations and the plays. Seeing how he is working now – all of his hard work has come to pay off."
It's quirky and different, and that's added to the charm of the upcoming CFP championship matchup with Miami – where Mendoza is making it difficult to root against the home-town kid.
"One of the many good things about Miami is how it's a cultural melting pot, and there's so many things in Miami that matter deeply to Miamians," Mendoza said. "I can go on and on about all the great staples in Miami. I think it's a great city. Whenever I'm done playing football, I'm definitely going to move back to Miami and live here."
The Mendoza scrutiny will ramp up ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft process, where he is the heavy favorite to be the No. 1 pick by the Las Vegas Raiders. That's an arena where one character trait stands out above the rest – the ability to win football games at the highest level.
That is coming, but in the present tense – Mendoza is locked in.
"I would also say there's so many things I've got to work on," Mendoza said. "I would say I'm a little bit of a people pleaser and always want to please everybody. At some point a lot of my mentors have told me, sure, you want to please everybody, make a good impression on everybody, but you want to really focus on the right things, and sometimes you've got to say no. Sometimes you've got to say no to really focus on your goal, focus on your preparation."