BRISTOL, Conn. — Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has captured the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award on the eve of the Heisman Trophy presentation, making the redshirt junior the heavy favorite for college football’s top honor.
Mendoza took home the Maxwell for the nation’s player of the year and the O’Brien as the country’s top quarterback on ESPN’s college awards show Friday night. The Heisman winner will be announced Saturday in New York, with Mendoza viewed as the overwhelming frontrunner. He was also named The Associated Press player of the year a day earlier.
The California transfer guided Indiana to a 13-0 season, a Big Ten championship-game victory over Ohio State and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Mendoza, Indiana’s first O’Brien recipient, set a program mark with an FBS-leading 33 touchdown passes.
“It’s a wonderful feeling. It really doesn’t feel real,” Mendoza said from New York after being named the O’Brien winner. “It’s a testament to so many people who believed in me, who have helped groom me into the player I am today and all those people, especially before anybody knew my name.”
Mendoza prevailed in the O’Brien balloting over Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed, two other quarterbacks preparing to lead their teams in the CFP. The Maxwell selection came over Sayin and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, the Irish’s first Doak Walker Award winner, who set a school record with 21 touchdowns.
Mendoza is the second Hoosier to win the Maxwell, joining Anthony Thompson (1989). Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was honored as coach of the year for the second straight season after guiding the Hoosiers to their first undefeated regular season since 1945, the program’s first Big Ten title in 58 years, an end to a 37-year losing streak to Ohio State and the program’s first No. 1 AP ranking.
Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was awarded the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player; he already had won the Bronko Nagurski Award. Southern California receiver Makai Lemon earned the Fred Biletnikoff Award after finishing among the national leaders with 1,156 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs received the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back, and Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman. Oklahoma’s Tate Sandell took the Lou Groza Award as the top place-kicker, and Georgia’s Brett Thorson won the Ray Guy Award as the premier punter. Both Oklahoma and Georgia are headed to the College Football Playoff.
Associated Press
Dec. 12, 2025, 9:18 PM ET
