Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza added a little extra shine to championship week.
The Heisman Trophy winner was presented a diamond Rolex watch and a custom chain ahead of Monday night’s national championship game. He flashed his the new bling with a familiar “wrists up” pose made popular by Shedeur Sanders. The look matched the moment for a quarterback guiding one of the most unlikely title runs in college football history.
Mendoza will attempt to lead the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 season, which would mark the sport’s first unbeaten national champion in 132 years. Indiana enters the College Football Playoff National Championship one win from its first football national title.
The game also serves as a homecoming for Mendoza, who grew up in Miami and graduated from Christopher Columbus High School. But the quarterback has gone out of his way to downplay the personal significance.
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“I can be selfish, saying, ‘Oh, it’s Miami, it’s a homecoming,’ and stuff like that, but in reality, all that matters is the football game,” Mendoza said Saturday. “I don’t want to put the spotlight on myself, but on everybody.”
Mendoza has thrown 41 touchdown passes with just six interceptions this season, anchoring Indiana’s stunning rise from recent obscurity.
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The Hoosiers face the Miami Hurricanes on Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with ESPN providing coverage (Available on FuboTV).
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