Indiana Earns Sports Illustrated Cover After Championship Victory

Arguably the greatest story in modern college football history will be getting the treatment it so well deserves.

Fernando Mendoza's incredible run and dive into the endzone on Indiana's gutsy fourth-and-goal playcall will get the Sports Illustrated cover this week, and the photo to highlight it is nearly as good as the game and season itself.

Resetting Mendoza's Massive Touchdown Run

Leading 17-14 with 9:18 to play in Monday night's National Championship game, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti called a timeout and opted to go-for-it instead of kick the field goal and potentially go up six points.

It wasn't fourth and short by any means, but instead a fourth-and-four. Cignetti and the Hoosiers then opted to keep the ball in the hands of college football's best player in 2025, letting Mendoza make a run for the ages and into the history books.

The game wasn't over by then as Miami continued to fight back time and time again, but no play from Monday night better encapsulates this Indiana team and Mendoza as a player than that one.

Mendoza's Sweet Revenge on Touchdown Run

In 2024, one of the best games of the entire season wound up being when Miami went to California and had an epic comeback as it rallied to beat the Bears. Nobody knew then that we were up late on a Saturday night watching a future Heisman Trophy and national champion quarterback take on the team he would play in that national title game.

During it though, Mendoza had a designed run where he was popped by Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe. On the play, Mendoza was stopped well short of the yard to gain and Cal was forced to punt, resulting in Miami getting the ball back, and driving to win.

Fast forward a year and a few months and who was the linebacker that Mendoza went through on his way to the end zone on that epic run?

You guessed it. Check out a highlight of both runs below.

pic.twitter.com/omBhW3rz5I
— Mr. Salmons (@MrSalmons) January 20, 2026

Get Your Indiana-Fernando Mendoza SI Copy Now

If you're going to own one piece of memorabilia from Indiana's national championship game, wouldn't it make sense to make it the most iconic sports magazine in the world?

You can purchase your copy of the Mendoza touchdown run Sports Illustrated now, with features about Indiana's epic run to the national championship.

Whether for you or for your Indiana-loving family member or friend, this one is a must have.