Indiana stunned Miami 27-21 in a championship thriller that rewrote the record books. The Hoosiers completed a perfect 16-0 season, a feat not achieved since Yale’s remarkable run in 1894. The program’s first-ever college football championship came exactly 50 years after Bob Knight’s legendary basketball team finished their perfect 32-0 season.
The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game matched the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers against the No. 10-seeded Miami Hurricanes, delivering an unforgettable title clash.
Miami’s rich legacy includes five national championships, but this night belonged to Indiana. Fernando Mendoza’s heroics defined the contest when he broke tackles and sprawled out for a 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left. His 186 yards passing helped cement his place in Hoosier history. The program that long dwelled in football obscurity now stands alone at college football’s summit.
Fernando Mendoza leads Indiana to title glory
The Miami kid who wasn’t good enough for the “U” came back home to break their hearts. Fernando Mendoza, the transfer quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy after throwing a nation-leading 33 touchdown passes, wrote the final chapter of his fairy tale with his legs instead of his arm.
Indiana faced fourth-and-5 at Miami’s 12-yard line with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter as Miami was surging. Coach Cignetti sent out the field goal unit but changed his mind. He used a timeout to draw up a quarterback draw—a play they had specifically prepared for this game.
“We rolled the dice and said, ‘They’re going to be in it again and they were,'” Cignetti explained afterward. “We blocked it well, he broke a tackle or two and got in the end zone.”
Mendoza took the snap, weaved through blockers, spun out of a tackle, and leaped forward—stretching the ball across the goal line while defenders hammered him. The touchdown gave Indiana a 24-14 lead, just enough to withstand Miami’s late push.
“I had to go airborne,” Mendoza said. “I would die for my team.”
Miami’s defense battered Mendoza all night. They sacked him three times and landed numerous other hits. A controversial hit early in the game left his lip bleeding, which led Cignetti to argue that officials missed “three personal fouls that cross the line”.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder stood strong. Miami cut the lead to 17-14 in the fourth quarter, but Mendoza responded with a perfect back-shoulder pass to Charlie Becker on fourth-and-5. After Miami scored to make it 24-21, he ran down the clock with two key third-down conversions that set up a field goal to push the lead to six.
Mendoza’s passing numbers were modest—16-of-27 for 186 yards without any passing touchdowns—yet he showed true championship spirit at critical moments.
Monday’s game meant more than just a championship for Mendoza—it was personal. This Miami native played in his hometown against a program that wouldn’t even offer him a walk-on spot, the same school where his mother Elsa played tennis.
“This victory is so sweet for everybody, for the entire Hoosier nation, but also super sweet to myself,” Mendoza said. “There’s no words. This is the most special moment of my life.”
His mother—who lives with multiple sclerosis—celebrated wildly in the stands as he scored. His journey took him from a lightly-recruited player committed to Yale, then to Cal, and finally to Indiana where he became the fifth quarterback to win both the Heisman Trophy and national championship in the same season.
This overlooked Miami kid became a college football legend—his homecoming story couldn’t have been written any better.
Indiana beats Miami: Curt Cignetti transforms Hoosiers into champions, wins epic national title
“Coach Cig? He’s all ball. I think the last TV show he watched was Game of Thrones. That was years ago.” — Mike Shanahan, Indiana offensive coordinator, key in game strategy
Nobody thought it could happen. Curt Cignetti – a straightforward 65-year-old coaching veteran – reshaped the scene of college football by turning its biggest loser into the ultimate winner within 24 months.
The situation was tense at the Miami 12-yard line. The lead was just three points with nine minutes left. Cignetti called timeout and made a decisive move. He pulled back the kicking unit and called a quarterback draw for Mendoza – a play Miami hadn’t seen all night. This bold decision led to the touchdown that secured Indiana’s championship.
“People and a plan,” comes Cignetti’s response when asked about his success. His plan was simple: attack while others back down.
Cignetti did more than change Indiana’s roster – he created a new blueprint for building champions. As both “GM and head coach”, he personally reviewed each player and lived by his principle: “production over potential”.
His championship team emerged from overlooked talent and castoffs. He brought in 52 transfers across two seasons, including 13 trusted players from James Madison. The roster featured a rejected quarterback from Cal and several fourth and fifth-year players who weren’t top prospects.
“We didn’t raid blue-blooded cupboards,” one observer noted. “This was a team built with guys from James Madison, California, Maryland, and Kent State”.
Cignetti’s Hoosiers achieved a remarkable 26-2 record over two years. The team earned Indiana’s first No. 1 ranking and completed tonight’s perfect 16-0 season. He stands as the first coach since Gene Chizik at Auburn in 2010 to win a national championship in his initial two seasons.
“That place was a football graveyard,” admitted a coaching peer who named Cignetti the nation’s best coach. “That place hadn’t been in the top 10 in like 100 years”.
Cignetti delivered on his promise from day one. He boldly declared “Purdue sucks! So does Michigan and Ohio State!” at his first pep rally. Tonight, he lifted the championship trophy, proving his simple claim: “I win. Google me.”
Miami surges late but falls short in CFP Final
Miami’s offense remained dormant like a winter python for 30 minutes. Then it struck with deadly speed.
Miami found themselves down 10-0 at halftime with barely any offensive production. Everything changed when Mark Fletcher Jr. burst through a huge gap on the right side and sprinted for a 57-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. His electrifying run brought Miami’s sideline back to life and cut Indiana’s lead to 10-7.
Fletcher was just getting started. Indiana extended their lead to 17-7 after a blocked punt, but he responded by powering in from 3 yards out to start the fourth quarter. The score capped off a brilliant 10-play, 81-yard drive. He ended up with 112 yards and two touchdowns, single-handedly dismantling the tough Hoosier defense.
The momentum seemed to favor Miami until disaster hit. Miami backed up at their own 16-yard line when Mikail Kamara broke through the right side protection and blocked Dylan Joyce’s rugby-style punt. Isaiah Jones recovered in the end zone to give Indiana a 17-7 cushion. This marked the first punt-block touchdown in College Football Playoff history.
Miami kept fighting. Malachi Toney’s touchdown reduced the deficit to 24-21, and the “U” got one last chance while trailing 27-21 with 1:42 left.
Beck, who came from Georgia to chase this championship chance, led Miami past midfield. With history within reach, he threw toward Keelan Marion, but Miami native Jamari Sharpe leaped to grab the interception with 44 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes’ miracle run came to an end at their hometown kid’s hands.
Indiana’s win rewrites college football history
History just made room for a new chapter in Bloomington. A basketball school that produced countless legends now celebrates an unexpected football triumph that shocked the nation.
The Hoosiers finally reached the mountain top after 136 years of football struggles. A program with just two Big Ten titles (1945, 1967) now holds college football’s greatest prize. The championship tastes even sweeter because fans suffered through nineteen losing seasons since 2000. Their previous best AP ranking was 4th way back in 1967. The team’s perfect 16-0 season stands as a feat unseen in college football since the 1800s.
Two perfect seasons now stand as pillars of Indiana athletics, separated by fifty years. Knight’s legendary 1976 basketball team went 32-0, and these football Hoosiers matched that unblemished record. The paths differed though – Knight’s team started as favorites while Cignetti’s squad began unranked. Knight relied on discipline, Cignetti chose aggressive play. Both teams achieved what seemed impossible by beating all challengers.
What this means for the future of the CFP
The expanded 12-team playoff format proved its worth through Indiana’s triumph. The old four-team model would have left the Hoosiers watching from home. This new system lets teams outside the traditional powers earn their spot through results on the field. Their success shows other overlooked programs that smart leadership and strategic transfer portal moves can speed up rebuilding faster than expected.
College football needed this story. Of course, Indiana’s miracle run deserves a place next to basketball’s sacred tablets, right beside Bob Knight’s untouchable ’76 squad. These Hoosiers danced through sixteen games without a misstep after spending decades as Big Ten doormats. They defied every prediction, every historical precedent, every rational football thought.
Mendoza won’t ever pay for another meal in Bloomington. The same goes for Cignetti, the cantankerous 65-year-old who saw championship potential in Indiana’s football wasteland. They accomplished what generations thought impossible together and turned Memorial Stadium from a Saturday afternoon obligation into hallowed ground.
Miami fought bravely, especially when Fletcher bulldozed his way through the second half. Yet destiny wore cream and crimson this night. The story feels almost too perfect – Mendoza, rejected by his hometown Hurricanes, came back to Miami as a conquering hero. Sharpe, another Miami native, sealed the victory with that final interception against the team that overlooked him.
This championship proves something bigger – it validates Cignetti’s unorthodox methods, Mendoza’s transfer choices, and Indiana’s long-suffering football faithful. Football powerhouses now exist beyond Tuscaloosa, Columbus or Ann Arbor. The expanded playoff format has delivered exactly what its creators promised: a chance for programs once left out of championship talks.
Hoosier fans will talk about Mendoza’s fourth-down heroics fifty years from now, just like basketball faithful discuss Keith Smart’s baseline jumper. Tonight means more than just a game or even a championship. This perfect season marks Indiana’s transformation from basketball school to football force – the night history wrote itself anew in crimson ink. Without doubt, somewhere, even Bob Knight has a smile on his face.
