To deliver a full-term football miracle, the impossible Indiana saga needed one more dramatic flourish, one more moment of divine inspiration, from its two primary authors. The greatest college football story ever told needed coach Curt Cignetti to make his bravest call and it needed quarterback Fernando Mendoza to make his bravest play.
With nine minutes and 27 seconds left in the College Football Playoff national championship game against Miami, facing a fourth-and-4 at the 12-yard line and holding a precarious 17–14 lead, Cignetti signaled timeout.
“In the huddle, we’re about to go out there with the PAT team and Cignetti comes out and he yells, ‘Get out on the field, we’re going for it!’ It got me a little pumped up,” says offensive tackle Carter Smith.
The call: a quarterback draw by Mendoza. What transpired was the most memorable play of the Hoosiers’ 16–0 season, and the most memorable play in program history.
They had run successful QB draws several times during the season, several of them in the red zone. But the decision not to rely on the arm of the most efficient passer in the nation, and his elite receiving corps, came with considerable risk. Getting five yards on the ground against the brutal Hurricanes defense was hardly a given. Come up short, and it’s a field goal game against an opponent that had gained all the offensive momentum.
No fear from Indiana. No hesitation from the offensive unit.
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