What Fernando Mendoza Said After Indiana Football's Blowout Win vs Oregon

ATLANTA — Indiana football redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza spoke to the media after the No. 1 Hoosiers' 56-22 win over No. 5 Oregon on Friday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Here's what Mendoza told reporters following Indiana's victory in the College Football Playoff semifinals, which secured a spot in the national championship game.

Q. Fernando, your thoughts on not only what you've accomplished, but what you've given to Hoosier Nation, this ride that now goes onto the National Championship game?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: I think it is the other way around. Hoosier Nation has given myself and the coaching staff here has given myself so much great opportunity. Told me a year ago, I believe a year ago today or day before actually is the day I arrived on campus after transferring, so Hoosier Nation, the coaching staff and the entire sports staff has given myself so much opportunity here and so much belief in my character and my play, not only as a player, also as a leader. I'm forever in debt.

Q. Fernando, you'll be playing in the National Championship game in Miami. What does it mean for you to be able to play this game for the first time in your collegiate career in your hometown?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: I think playing a National Championship would get anybody fired up and definitely stir up some emotions. However for myself, I believe it's going to be a great game. The Hurricanes are a fantastic team, led by a great coach in Coach Cristobal. I think it's really just playing our brand of football, playing the Indiana Hoosiers football, that even though it is the National Championship, we don't have to do anything that is out of character. We just gotta play our brand of football, and that's what has led us to this point in 50 wins this season.

Q. Fernando, in your first two playoff games here, you have eight touchdown passes and only five incompletions and tonight you threw touchdown passes to four different guys. What does it say about not only your accuracy throwing and finding guys, but also just how the plays have been getting schemed up, you get guys open?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah, I would say I've come a long way from being in game one. Game one, I threw zero touchdown passes. I was trying to be Superman, and then the coaching staff settled me down and was like, hey, you don't gotta be Superman. We have a great defense and a great superstars, playmakers and offense, so just do your job.

My job is to be effective with making really accurate balls and really great decisions, and that's what I pride myself on every single play, and so I'm glad those results came. However, none of that matters. All that matters right now is the National Championship.

Q. Guys that are 21, 22 years old, they chase instant gratification and kind of ride with that. You and then this whole team appreciate high highs, but you're able to reset. How are you able to week in, week out as you approach a National Championship game?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: I would say delayed gratification is a concept that was brought by stoicism. It's one of the greatest attributes. If you ever have delayed gratification, discipline in yourself and your discipline in your process and preparation, you're able to execute every single week this play or this game is the National Championship. Like this game is the most important thing.

So I think a lot of players and a lot of coaches and everybody in Bloomington has done a great job of upholding that concept of delayed gratification and discipline throughout all aspects of our lives when there's a lot of distractions especially with the Big Ten Championship and the Heisman and all the other things, I think our team has done a great job of keeping that delayed gratification at the forefront.

Q. Fernando, this did not sound like a neutral site game. What impact did the crowd have you on?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Shout out to Hoosier Nation for being here. We played an awesome stadium, week five. I believe I had five or six pre-snap penalties.

CURT CIGNETTI: Seven.

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Seven. (Laughs). Seven pre-snap as Coach Cignetti just stated. That's huge. That's huge, especially that's one of the ways that you're able to lose a game.

And I think that not having to be able -- not having to go on Sally count because of Hoosier Nation being here and making them go on Sally count is a huge aspect of the game and offensive operation that's not talked about enough.

So shout out to Hoosier Nation because going on Sally count especially against the Ducks is always tough and making the other team go on Sally count, that might have as well counted for some points.

Q. Fernando, what do you feel like went right tonight?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah. I would say that it was a great team effort. There was a lot of contested catches. Charlie Becker's touchdown, Elijah Sarratt, you know, making catches all over the field. Omar Cooper and EJ, they were getting open all game and to be able to throw with those guys, I'm like a point guard out there. I'm throwing to the open guy, and they shoot the threes.

I got the glory and the fame, but those guys are the ones that make the shots, make the threes. And there was still a lot. Although the scoreboard does not show it, there is still a lot I have to improve on, like footwork. There was a protection check I missed, and there's a ball that I want to have back.

So there's always things to improve and especially for the National Championship game, I think it's important not to dwell on the past. That was a great performance. This is the National Championship. And for this next week like for myself, I don't think there's any time to celebrate because this is what everybody dreams of, and I'm going to put every ounce of my body into preparation going into the next game.

Q. You believed in the mission for Coach Cig to come to Indiana and see this through and now you're going to the National Championship.

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah. It's been a great journey, I believe, for all of us. I still remember when I was in the transfer portal, Coach Cignetti said, hey, if you're going to come here, you're going to develop into a hell of a quarterback, and it wasn't about, at that point, hey, I'm going to promise you a National Championship. It was you're going to develop and have that belief.

Means a lot to myself, and I think I've been able to see myself, the offense, the entire team grow throughout. So I just think it means a lot that, although social media before the year was like, oh, Cinderella story, we all had the internal belief in the facility, behind closed doors, and I believe that's what helped us propel us to this moment.

Q. Fernando, so you do have experience against your next opponent, Miami. You played them last year. What do you remember about that game and how do you think that could help you potentially next week?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah, so they did switch defensive coordinators. And the last year, with a very different offensive schematic as well, however, it was a tight game that Cam Ward, who is fantastic, ended up being the number one overall pick, and that game came down to the wire.

I remember running on the third down, getting knocked out by Wesley Bissainthe. I hope I said the last name right. I apologize for that. But he's a great player. So I remember getting knocked out there, and we lost by one point. It was heartbreaking. So just looking forward to the opportunity to play them again.

Q. Fernando, what was it like throwing it to a guy (cornerback D'Angelo Ponds) that you're typically playing against?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah. I mean, especially against solid team, it's basically the same play Jeremiah Smith ran in the National Championship last year against Notre Dame. D'Angelo you saw him pick six. His start/stop is incredible, if not the best in the nation.

So to be able to have him run that and throw the man coverage, and it was man coverage. So at that point I needed to put the ball in the vicinity of D'Angelo because although he's a defensive back, he has fantastic ball skills. He has great hands. He could be a receiver, he has such great hands. It was kind of an extended hand off to him and not only is he a great change of direction, great hands, he is also the fastest player on our team, too. So that helps for the first down.

Q. Fernando, can you just talk about you've touched on it, but how much of a full circle moment this is for you going back to your hometown? Have you played in Hard Rock before? What does this mean to you?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: I've actually not played in Hard Rock before, but I've been to a lot of games there. And it's a very full-circle moment for myself. If you open Google Maps and put my address, the University of Miami campus, it's under a mile away. And I walked there, biked there, played basketball rec games in the offseason there.

It means a lot to me, however, I think the National Championship means a lot to everybody. So I wouldn't want it any other way, on a great stage, that the Indiana Hoosiers are going to have to compete their butt off. They're a great team and really looking forward to the opportunity.

Q. Fernando, heading to the National Championship first time, as well as Mario Cristobal, the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, two Latinos going at the national stage, what does this do for the Latino community?

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah. It does a lot. I think it puts it in the forefront and the light, and I think we've seen Latinos in football. It's been growing, and every single year, you hear about more Latinos, like Jake Rodriguez, great Latino from Texas Tech, and I think it's just a really good path of just making football more adverse and inclusive. I think it's great.

I mean, Mario Cristobal played with my dad in high school, and so I do know him. I think it's going to be a great opportunity for both teams.

Q. Fernando, you couldn't have played this completed game without a tremendous week of practice. Just curious if you could shine a light on a couple of your teammates that did a great job in getting you ready and what they did and what that meant to the output on the field.

FERNANDO MENDOZA: Yeah, I think that week of practice the scout team does a fantastic jobs with all of the GAs, getting all of those guys in the right positions and the right looks and a lot of the looks that we had on scout team showed up today. And I think that was great.

Scouting by the coaching staff and by the GAs to really put that in the pudding, so we were able to execute today. And also the guys -- the entire offensive line like Pat Coogan and Riley Nowakowski, the tight end, those guys really get us energy and juice because our practices are fast and they're short. So a lot of people can tend to be a little tired, but we need intense energy throughout the entire week of prep. And those are two guys and two captains of the offense that did a fantastic job of really motivating our guys whether it was the first play of scout team or the last play.