Fernando Mendoza wins the Heisman Trophy as college football’s top player

By EVERETT MERRILL NEW YORK AP Fernando Mendoza the enthusiastic quarterback of No Indiana won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night becoming the first Hoosier to win college football s bulk prestigious award since its inception in The former Cal star claimed points including first-place votes He beat Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia points Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love points and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin points Mendoza s Heisman win was emphatic He finished first in all six Heisman regions the first to do so since Caleb Williams in He was named on of all ballots tying him with Marcus Mariota in for the second highest in the award s history and he received of total practicable points which is the seventh highest in Heisman history I haven t seen the numbers yet noted Mendoza but it s such an honor to be mentioned with these guys Pavia Love and Sayin It s really a credit to our crew It s a squad award Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No ranking and the top seed in the -team College Football bracket throwing for yards and a national-best touchdown passes while also running for six scores Indiana the last unbeaten company in major college football will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal competition in the Rose Bowl on Jan Mendoza the Hoosiers first-year starter after transferring from Cal is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed operation records for touchdowns and points set during last season s surprise run to the CFP A redshirt junior the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history joining runner-up Anthony Thompson Mendoza is the seventh Indiana performer to earn a top- finish in Heisman balloting and it marks another first in plan history having back-to-back players in the top Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year With his teammates chanting HeismanDoza as he addressed the media he revealed there felt like a realistic chance of winning the Heisman when the Hoosiers routed then No Illinois - on Sept At that point my boys teammates declared we might make it to New York for the award ceremony he explained It was lighthearted at the time but that s when it started Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years with two-way participant Travis Hunter of Colorado ending the run last season Mendoza is the rd quarterback to win the Heisman and the second winner of Latin American descent to claim the trophy Stanford s Jim Plunkett was the first in Although I grew up in America my four grandparents are all from Cuba he stated I had the opportunity to go there and that was key to me I credit the love to my grandparents and the Hispanic region The Heisman Trophy presentation came after a number of accolades were already awarded Mendoza was named The Associated Press performer of the year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O Brien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award Mendoza and Pavia clearly exemplify the changing landscape of using the transfer portal in college football Mendoza is the seventh transfer to win the award in the last nine years Vanderbilt is Pavia s third school Confident Commodore Pavia finished second with first-place votes He threw for a school-record yards and touchdowns for the Commodores who were pushing for a CFP berth all the way to the bracket announcement He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history Generously listed as feet tall Pavia led Vanderbilt to its first -win season along with six wins against Southeastern Conference foes That includes four wins over ranked programs as Vandy reached No its highest ranking in The Associated Press Top since Pavia went from being unrecruited out of high school to junior college New Mexico State and ultimately Vanderbilt in through the transfer portal Vandy next plays in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on Dec Irish Love The last running back to win the Heisman was Alabama s Derrick Henry in Love put himself in the mix with an outstanding season for Notre Dame He finished with first-place votes The junior from St Louis was fourth in the Bowl Subdivision in yards rushing fifth in per-game average and third with rushing touchdowns for the Fighting Irish who missed out on a CFP bid and opted not to play in a bowl tournament He was the first player in Notre Dame s storied history to produce multiple TD runs of or more yards a -yarder against Indiana in the first round of last year s playoffs and a -yarder against Boston College earlier this season Buckeyes leader Sayin led the Buckeyes to a No ranking for largest part of the season throwing for yards while tying for second in the country with TD passes ahead of their CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on Dec Related Articles Sharks prospect Michael Misa not injured Ryan Warsofsky says Klingberg scores in overtime as Sharks complete unbelievable comeback CIF state football championships This weekend s scoreboard ers change classification of Brandon Aiyuk s delayed comeback Against supersized Wolves small mistakes doom Warriors The sophomore from Carlsbad California arrived at Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change He played four games last season before winning the starting job He led the Buckeyes to a - win in the opener against preseason No Texas and kept the club atop the AP Top for straight weeks tying its second-longest run Sayin follows a strong lineage of Ohio State quarterbacks since coach Ryan Day arrived in Dwayne Haskins Justin Fields C J Stroud and Kyle McCord averaged passing yards TDs and six interceptions along with a completion rate during their first seasons