MIAMI — He was finally able to smile.
As red and white confetti rained down onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti — known for his stern demeanor on the field — widely grinned toward his players and coaches knowing his team had done what many previously thought was impossible.
This was the Hoosiers, after all. A program that entered the season with the most total losses in Division I college football history. With three bowl victories over 120 seasons, the most recent in 1991.
Now they are national champions after a 27-21 win against Miami to complete one of the most improbable turnarounds ever.
“We’re 16-0, national champions at Indiana University, which I know a lot of people thought was never possible,” Cignetti said after the game. “It probably is one of the greatest sports stories of all time.”
Cignetti played his part changing the culture of the program, but he also lured the right transfer players, particularly 13 from his past school, James Madison, and star quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Mendoza, named the Heisman Trophy winner this season as the best player in college football, once again played best when the lights were brightest. He finished 16-of-27 passing for 186 yards and had the play of the game with his legs late in the fourth quarter.
Leading Miami 17-14 with just over nine minutes remaining, the Hoosiers faced fourth-and-4 on the Hurricanes’ 12-yard line. Cignetti opted to go for it rather than kick a field goal, and the major risk paid off.
Mendoza took the hike, tucked the ball and ran — juking multiple defensive players and bouncing off would-be tacklers — and hurdled himself into end zone as he was taking a brutal hit.
“Fernando, I know he’s great in interviews and comes off as the All-American guy, but he has the heart of a lion when it comes to competition,” Cignetti said. “That guy competes like a warrior. ... Can’t say enough about his effort on that play and our team finding a way to get it done.”
Said Mendoza: “It wasn’t the perfect coverage for it, but I trust my linemen and everybody in that entire offense. That entire team had a gritty performance today. And we were all putting our bodies on the line, so it was the least I could do for my brothers.”
Indiana was always a sleeping giant in college football. The school boasts the largest alumni base in the country, with more than 800,000 living Hoosiers — and some are rich enough to help fund the turnaround.
In college football today, it’s pay to play.
New name, image and likeness rules allow student-athletes to be compensated financially for their personal brands through sponsorships and endorsements. That has changed the game for big programs like Indiana that can lure recruits and transfers to the school by writing checks.
Billionaire Mark Cuban of “Shark Tank” fame is one of them. Before the title game, he told NBC News that this season has been “better than anybody can possibly imagine.”
Asked about the future of the program, he said, “As long as Coach Cig and [Athletic Director] Scott Dolson and [President] Pam Whitten are the trio at the top, we’ll be good.”
And the Hoosiers are already rebuilding.
Mendoza is expected to announce soon that he’s leaving to go to the NFL and become the likely No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. In his place will be former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, who threw for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns this season. Cignetti also got more than a dozen commitments from top transfers, including former Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh and former Wisconsin offensive lineman Joe Brunner. According to On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index, the Hoosiers rank No. 1 for next season — a sign this year isn’t a fluke.
But nothing is guaranteed, and nobody knows that better than Don Fisher. Fisher, the play-by-play voice of Indiana men’s basketball and football since 1973, has seen all of the ups and downs — mostly downs — of the program in his legendary career.
He said Monday’s national championship has made it all worth it.
“For me, it does, there’s no question,” he told NBC News. “I’ve been doing this for 53 years now, and I’ve been a part of three national championship basketball teams, and now I’ve got an unbeaten [football] champion. In football, nobody ever thought it could happen — and it has.”
