CFP Title Game Takeaways: Mendoza’s Elway Moment, the Raiders Send a Message, and Beck’s Next Move

There’s a new national champion in college football, and they reside in Bloomington. In just two years, Curt Cignetti turned around the Indiana program and brought the Hoosier faithful their first title, defeating Miami 27-21 on its home field Monday night.

It was a storybook ending to a magical season for Indiana, and I’ve got a few instant-reaction and big-picture takeaways to share below. Let’s get to it.

Fernando Mendoza’s Elway moment: Breaking down the Heisman winner’s touchdown run and two other plays that won the game for the Hoosiers.

Tom Brady’s presence loomed large on Monday night: I think the Raiders minority owner was sending a message by wearing team gear to the title game.

My advice for Carson Beck: It’s been a season of image rehabilitation for the Miami QB. How can he improve his NFL draft stock from here? 

Audience poll of the week: Who would win head to head: the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes or the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers? Results below!

When asked in the postgame interview what it took to beat Miami for the national title, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti didn’t hesitate.

“A lot of guts,” he said. I couldn’t agree more. 

It began with Indiana going against tendency to start the game, as they passed on seven of their first 10 plays despite being an RPO and run-heavy team throughout the season. The theme for the Hoosiers offense in this game was to throw changeups when Miami was expecting a fastball, and it paid off time and time again.

There are three moments from this offense that I want to highlight, beginning with what I thought was the most sneaky-brilliant play call of the game on third-and-8 from the Miami 43 in the second quarter:

Right before this play, Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr. was called for an offside penalty on third-and-13. Cignetti saw the Miami pass rush foaming at the mouth to get the Heisman Trophy winner, and instead of having him sit back and throw, Cignetti threw an offspeed pitch in the form of an inside handoff to Kaelon Black, who waltzed through a parted sea of Hurricane defenders and went for 20 to set up the score a few plays later. Cignetti used Miami’s upfield steam and angst against them to perfection.

Now let’s fast forward to Indiana’s first drive of the fourth quarter. After punting on three straight possessions to start the second half, Indiana looked to be on the ropes, and needed a score after a Miami touchdown made it a 17-14 game. Instead of kicking from the Miami 37 on fourth-and-5, Cignetti elected to put the ball in Mendoza’s hands and go back to Indiana’s bread and butter, the back-shoulder pass:

There were so many times this season where Mendoza threw this pass with perfect timing and placement, and he did it again here with the undefeated season on the line. Elijah Sarratt was usually the target on these concepts throughout the season, but on Monday night, it was Charlie Becker who showed up with the route and catch of the game.

A few plays later, Cignetti and Co. were faced with another fourth-down decision: Would they go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 12, or take the points and rely on the defense with a six-point lead? 

Answer: Onions. 

The trust and guts it took to put the ball in Mendoza’s hands—and to call a designed QB draw here—can’t be overstated. And Mendoza’s toughness to shake off a few tackles, find his balance, and soar into the end zone while being hit in the back is the stuff of legends. My show cohost Steve Muench compared it to John Elway’s helicopter run in Super Bowl XXXII, and I see the resemblance:

If Indiana doesn’t score the TD there and Miami still marches down the field to score on the next drive, we’re talking about a completely different pressure index for the Hoosiers heading into the final few minutes of the game. 

Championship coaches make championship calls and championship players execute in crunch time. Indiana proved up to the task on Monday night and passed its final tests to become a title team.

Over the past 25 years in this job, I’ve had the great fortune of meeting people who are at the top of their profession, whether it be CEOs, general managers, head coaches, players, you name it. One constant I’ve noticed among these high achievers is how intentional they are. I don’t mean that in a manipulative way, but more so that they’re always setting a tone and sending a message through their actions to people in their orbit. 

I thought about that truth when I was watching the pregame festivities on Monday night and noticed Raiders minority owner Tom Brady wearing team gear on the field with other high-ranking members of the organization. Then the thought occurred to me: how often does Brady actually wear Raiders gear in public?

It’s still early in the draft process and we don’t know what the Raiders—who hold the no. 1 pick in the 2026 draft and have a need at quarterback—think of Mendoza. But to me, this was Brady signaling something. Maybe he just wanted to see how Mendoza operated under the pressure. Or maybe the front office has already decided Mendoza’s their guy and this was a way of showing him support in the biggest moment of his college career. 

We’ll find out in April. Either way, I don’t think it was a coincidence that the Raiders’ top decision-makers were in attendance—and very visible—for this game.

Carson Beck will catch some heat for throwing the game-ending interception last night, but his season as a whole has been a resounding success. A year ago at this time, he was planning to enter the 2025 NFL draft, but instead took his name out of the player pool and decided to transfer to Miami with hopes of rehabilitating his image and improving his draft stock heading into 2026. To this point, he’s checked a lot of boxes. 

I think back to August, when I started hearing some surprisingly glowing reviews coming out of Miami’s camp. Beck was showing up early to practices. His teammates loved him. His receivers weren’t having to work for the ball like they did at Georgia, and the brutal elbow injury from last season—which prevented him from straightening his throwing arm—was healed.

Still, I needed to see it. And I started to, especially against Notre Dame in that first game of the season, when it looked like Beck was learning to love football again. There were some bumps in the road (Beck didn’t always handle his postgame press conference perfectly), but for the most part, this season went about as well as it could have. 

Now the question is how he handles the predraft process. I’m told Beck has an open invitation to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, and my strong recommendation is for him to take it. Yes, he had 43 college starts and was the most experienced QB in the playoff, but scouts want to watch him up close and observe how he competes alongside the other guys vying for QB3 in this class behind Mendoza and Ty Simpson. 

People in Miami can talk about how much of a team leader he is, but I want to see him stand on business and take one more opportunity to showcase what he can do on the same field with other QBs in this class. Doing so would set a positive tone for what’s going to be a pivotal and very fascinating few months for the Miami QB.

2024 Ohio State Buckeyes (31%)
2025 Indiana Hoosiers (69%)