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Indiana completes college football national championship run with defeat of Miami
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- Indiana completes college football national championship run with defeat of Miami
MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Fernando Mendoza delivered some late magic and No. 1 seed Indiana held on to beat No. 10 Miami 27-21 in the College Football Playoff championship game to claim the first title in program history .
The win completes a stunning turnaround orchestrated by second-year coach Curt Cignetti, who inherited what is historically one of the weakest programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision but quickly transformed the Hoosiers into the best team the sport has to offer.
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A surprisingly low-scoring game through the first half began to open up in the third quarter and then took on a frenzied pace in a final quarter that saw Mendoza put the finishing the most memorable individual season in program history by providing clutch plays on two Indiana scoring drives.
Mendoza finished 16 of 27 for 186 yards and ran for a touchdown. Kaelon Black ran for 79 yards on 17 carries and Roman Hemby added 60 yards on 19 carries. Omar Cooper led IU with 71 yards on five receptions and Charlie Becker added 65 yards, including multiple driving-extending catches in the fourth quarter.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck threw for 232 yards on 19 of 32 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Mark Fletcher Jr. had 112 yards on 17 carries and freshman receiver Malachi Toney had a game-high 10 catches for 122 yards and a score.
The teams exchanged punts on the game's first three possessions. Indiana opened scoring on a 34-yard field goal by Nicolas Radicic with 2:42 left in the first quarter. That capped an 11-play, roughly six-minute drive featuring a key 25-yard completion to Cooper after a holding penalty left IU facing first-and-20 inside its own red zone.
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After the teams combined for three consecutive three-and-out drives, the Hoosiers stirred to life and took a 10-0 lead with 6:13 remaining in the half on a 1-yard plunge by tight end Riley Nowakowski . Capping an 85-yard march, the score was set up by a 15-yard completion to Becker that was originally called a touchdown but brought back to the 5-yard line on an official review.
At this point, Miami's offense had gained only 26 yards, 9 coming on Fletcher's carry on the first play from scrimmage, and just a single first down.
Combined with the Hoosiers' growing lead, this rough start led Miami to attempt and convert a fourth-and-1 play at its 34-yard line on a short Fletcher run. But after a 25-yard grab by receiver CJ Daniels pushed the Hurricanes into IU territory, coach Mario Cristobal opted for a long field goal attempt on fourth-and-2 from the 32.
Kicker Carter Davis's 49-yard attempt with 33 seconds left in the half had the distance but drifted right and clanged off the goalpost to send the Hoosiers into the break ahead 10-0. IU went into the locker room with a 100-yard edge in total offense (169-69) and 11 first downs to Miami's three. The Hurricanes were 0 of 6 on third down.
But the momentum built during that drive carried over into the third quarter. After sacking Mendoza twice and forcing an IU punt, Miami scored on its second play of the half via a 57-yard run by Fletcher, who waited patiently for a seam to open on the right side before going untouched into the end zone to make it 10-7 less than four minutes into the half.
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That was the sixth run of at least 50 yards given up by the Hoosiers' defense this season, more than all but five teams in the FBS.
Two drives later, following another IU punt, Miami was stopped short on a third-and-8 completion to Toney and lined up to punt back to the Hoosiers at its 16-yard line with 5:04 left in the third quarter.
Miami's special teams were again an issue: IU's Mikail Kamara blocked Dylan Joyce's punt, which bounced into the end zone and was recovered by Isaiah Jones to put the Hoosiers back up by double digits at 17-7.
That was the first blocked punt for a score in playoff history.
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The Hurricanes remained composed and provided a response. Starting at its 19 with five minutes to go in the third quarter, Miami went 81 yards in 10 plays, ending with Fletcher's second touchdown run from 3 yards out, and drew within a field goal at 17-14 with 14:57 to play.
Miami had dominated the third quarter and put IU on its heels. After that score, the Hurricanes were ahead in total offense with 222 yards to IU's 180; the defense held Mendoza without a completion in the quarter.
But the fourth quarter would belong to the Hoosiers.
IU would have a major answer behind a rejuvenated Mendoza. He threw for 37 yards on the next drive, including a key 19-yard completion to Becker on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 37, and then ran it in from 12 yards out on fourth-and-4 from the 12 to put IU ahead 24-14 with 9:18 left.
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Yet Miami would not go away thanks to more open-field brilliance from Toney. The Hurricanes needed just 2:34 to go 91 yards and make it 24-21 via Toney's weaving 22-yard touchdown on a short completion from Beck. The former Georgia transfer found Toney for a 41-yard two plays earlier to drive deep into IU territory.
With 6:37 left, the Hoosiers took over at their 25 with a chance to put Miami in a serious bind with another score. Again, Mendoza stepped up to deliver the final blockbuster moment in the most memorable individual season in program history.
He hit Cooper for 14 yards on a third-and-5 from IU's 31. He then found Becker for 19 yards on third-and-7 from the 48 to get the Hoosiers across midfield. After Hemby went around the right end for 10 yards on the following play, the Hoosiers were set up at the Miami 23 at the two-minute timeout.
Hemby then ran for 9 yards and Miami called its first timeout. IU followed that with a key false start to make it second-and-6 from the 19 with 1:56 to play. The Hoosiers gained a yard on the next runs, both of which were followed by Miami timeouts, to make it fourth-and-4 from the 18.
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Radicic made the 35-yard field goal to grow the lead to 27-21 with 1:42 left, but Miami was left in position to win the game with a touchdown.
The Hurricanes committed a false start on the first play. Beck was hit and threw incomplete on first-and-15. Next, Beck again missed his target but the Hoosiers were flagged for a late hit, giving Miami a first down at its 35-yard line.
A 7-yard gain from Beck to Toney with 51 seconds left moved the Hurricanes into IU territory at the 47. But on the next snap, Beck arced a throw down the left sideline toward Keelan Marion . But Marion wasn't looking for the ball; defensive back Jamari Sharpe undercut Marion and intercepted the ball at the Hoosiers' seven-yard line to seal the win.
Before going 11-2 and losing in the opening round of last year's playoff, IU had never won more than nine games in a season. The 2025 team is the first national champion since Yale in 1894 to finish 16-0. In their final four games, the Hoosiers beat teams then ranked No. 1, No. 5, No. 10 and No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indiana defeats Miami for college football national championship
