Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza gave up trying to escape the whirlwind he helped create by marching the Hoosiers right back into playoff position with an undefeated regular season on pause during a bye this week.Mendoza, a transfer from Cal who took over for Kurtis Rourke at Indiana this season, is viewed as a near-certain Heisman Trophy finalist for steering the Hoosiers to an 11-0 start and perfect, 8-0 Big Ten record with only the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket — a traditional rivalry game with state and conference rival Purdue — before a chance to play for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis on Dec. 6.”I never thought I’d be in this moment at this point,” Mendoza said Wednesday.Indiana is No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and No. 1 Ohio State has a chance to pull even with the Hoosiers at 11-0 overall entering the final week of the regular season. The Buckeyes still have to tackle a massive hurdle. Their annual showdown with No. 18 Michigan (8-2) on Nov. 29 could cause the conference standings and playoff rankings to shuffle.Mendoza’s final regular-season game of the season at Purdue might not set up as stress-free, but the Boilermarkers are winless in the Big Ten (0-8) and have lost nine consecutive games.With the Hoosiers out of their usual routine this week during a bye, Mendoza said he’s listening to common advice from elders and previous Heisman winners who told him to enjoy the ride.”I was able to talk to Matt Leinart a couple of weeks ago, and he’s a Heisman Trophy winner, fantastic quarterback, and has a great TV personality,” Mendoza said. “His advice was similar to what I got from a lot of the others, but it really stuck with me is this only happens once — unless you’re Tim Tebow. But a lot of people only go through this once, and they end up heading to the NFL or just things happen. Just enjoy it. Take the present moment in.”Mendoza has 30 TD passes and five interceptions with five rushing touchdowns in 11 games. Indiana has outscored opponents 476-128 this season and given up only 55 total second-half points. Suffice it to say Mendoza hasn’t had to escape high-pressure moments to reach his seat in the Heisman and national championship conversations.He does have a win at Oregon and threw a pinpoint game-winning touchdown pass at Penn State to preserve Indiana’s road to perfection with a 27-24 victory two weeks ago.
