Fernando Mendoza took the hit and got back up. Up next: a Heisman and more confetti?

INDIANAPOLIS -- On Indiana's first offensive play, with palpable enthusiasm emanating from the thousands of Hoosiers fans in attendance, Fernando Mendoza rolled out, released the ball and then … took a massive hit.

Mendoza, the face of the undefeated Hoosiers' high-powered offense, landed hard and laid crumpled on the ground after taking a shot from Ohio State defender Caden Curry. As the seconds ticked off, the Indiana faithful turned eerily quiet as their star quarterback didn't get up. 

"I was, like, 'Oh boy,'" Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. 

"Obvious concern for his health," his father, Fernando Mendoza Sr., told CBS Sports afterwards. 

Mendoza was helped off the field, his younger brother, Alberto, came in for a play and in an instant it felt like Indiana's dream season may have just gone up in smoke. What felt like a fever dream -- Indiana in Indianapolis playing for a Big Ten Championship in football -- was suddenly a nightmare. 

And then, one play later, Fernando Mendoza Jr. ran back out to a massive cheer. He had the wind knocked out of him and was ready to do whatever he could to get back out there. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked. 

"I was never going to stay down," Mendoza said. "And that's one thing I know -- one thing, I say it and I know it could be a little interpreted as a little criticism sometimes, but I will die for my brothers on that field. So, no matter where it's a gut punch, whether it's a head punch, whatever it is I'm always going to get back up."

That seemed to be the mentality for the entire Indiana football team Saturday night inside Lucas Oil Stadium. And that emphasis of resiliency is why the improbable became reality. It's how No. 2 Indiana beat No. 1 Ohio State, 13-10, to win a Big Ten championship (its first Big Ten title since 1945) and secure a No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff. It's how Mendoza may have won the Heisman Trophy through clutch play and a few throws that will play on Indiana football highlight reels for decades. 

Indiana is the best team in college football. Seriously. 

"A lot of people probably thought that wasn't possible," Cignetti said. "But when you get the right people and you have a plan and they love one another and play for one another and they commit, anything's possible."

There may be no greater example of the power of transformational leadership in college football history than what Cignetti has done in just two seasons in Bloomington. Inheriting a program with the all-time lowest winning percentage in college football history, Cignetti is an unbelievable 24-2 in two seasons. He now has wins over Ohio State and Oregon. He has, almost miraculously, delivered back-to-back playoff appearances. 

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A year ago, critics believed Cignetti and Indiana were just one-hit wonders. A loss to Notre Dame in the first-round of the playoff gave those people all the ammo they needed in their beliefs the Hoosiers just weren't elite. 

But inside the Indiana program, they believed they really weren't that far off from the best of the best. And after adding Mendoza, a coveted transfer quarterback from Cal, they believed the offense could be even better than last year's group that averaged 41.3 points per game. 

Against the nation's No. 1 defense, Mendoza may not have had his best game. The stats aren't gaudy -- 15 of 23 for 222 yards and a touchdown -- and he made a throw he'd love to have back in the second quarter that was intercepted. He's so steady, though, and doesn't shrink from the moment. There were a few times it felt like Ohio State might pull away in this game, but the Hoosiers defense never backed down. It kept Indiana in the game long enough for Mendoza, a likely top-10 pick in next spring's 2026 NFL Draft, to do what he does best and attack the Buckeyes' talented defense. 

There was the third-quarter deep pass to Charlie Becker that turned into a 51-yard gain. Three plays later, Mendoza made a terrific throw to Elijah Sarratt, who made a beautiful catch, for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Hoosiers a 13-10 lead they'd never relinquish. Ohio State never gave in, twice getting inside the redzone and coming away with zero points. Mendoza finally delivered the dagger on another big pass to Becker -- this one for 33 yards -- on a bold third-and-six call from the Hoosiers' own 24-yard line. 

"The moment was never going to be too big for him," a proud Mendoza Sr. told CBS Sports after the game. 

After it was all over, dozens of family members in Mendoza jerseys and shirts gathered outside the Indiana locker room waiting to celebrate with the two Indiana quarterbacks. You could see the pure joy and pride on all the faces of the Mendozas celebrating in the bowels of the Lucas Oil Stadium. It was especially meaningful for Fernando Jr. to see his mother Elsa, who looked to be on the verge of tears at times, there in Indianapolis celebrating him. Elsa Mendoza is battling multiple sclerosis. 

"It means a ton to see all my family members travel out from Miami not knowing what the outcome's going to be, especially in an adverse situation," the star Indiana QB said. "My mom, coming from Miami, making the tough trip over here to Indianapolis, always battling, struggling to go see my games. And my love for her is unconditional."

There were Heisman chants after the game, though both the elder Mendoza and his son gave near identical answers -- his father to CBS Sports, the younger Fernando on the press conference dais -- about it being a team award and how it wouldn't be possible without everyone else performing the way they have. 

"He's a servant player who plays for his teammates and for his coaches," Mendoza Sr. said of his son. "If he wins -- whatever he wins -- he always puts the praise back on his teammates." 

His teammates were all too happy to put the praise back on him. 

"I feel like it's 100 percent certain that he should be the Heisman," running back Roman Hemby told CBS Sports. "Just the resiliency, the poise that he has, and the way that he commands us as an offense, as a team, really. I feel like he's more than deserving of that and he'll he's as humble as they come. He never really wants the spotlight to be on himself. And I feel like that's even more of a reason for you to want a guy like that to be your Heisman, or be your best player in college football, because he truly is, and that's just the man that he is."

Mendoza, a lock to be a Heisman finalist, will find out soon enough whether Hemby was right. His top challengers for the award were Ohio State QB Julian Sayin, who may have been knocked out with a loss, and Vanderbilt dynamo Diego Pavia, whose team did not play on championship weekend. 

On this night, though, no matter what happens moving forward, Mendoza and his teammates produced a magical moment that would have felt incomprehensible just two years ago. 

As confetti fell from the ceiling, thousands and thousands of Indiana fans stayed long after the game ended to cheer on their Big Ten champion Hoosiers. And if Cignetti can keep this team performing like it did, it won't be the last championship they'll get to celebrate.