In a two-minute situation with no timeouts, Indiana relied on Heisman candidate Fernando Mendoza to deliver the most clutch drive of his collegiate career during Saturday’s 27-24 victory at Penn State.
The Hoosiers’ hurry-up in front of 100,000-plus at Beaver Stadium culminated with Mendoza’s 7-yard toss to Omar Cooper Jr. in the back of the end zone, who dazzled despite solid coverage and came down with the football with his left toe inbounds to push Indiana ahead.
“It was the most improbable victory I’ve been apart of and there couldn’t have been a better place to make it happen,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said after the game, noting Indiana’s first win in program history at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions had the unbeaten Hoosiers on the ropes following Nick Singleton’s second touchdown of the fourth quarter to give Penn State a 24-20 lead after Indiana had once held a 13-point advantage.
No. 2 Indiana survives upset bid from Penn State thanks to insane Omar Cooper Jr. touchdown catch
Robby Kalland
Sacked on the first snap of the final drive, Mendoza picked himself off the turf and moved the chains with a completion to Cooper for a 22-yard gain to get the possession going for the Hoosiers.
“We refused to lose in the bleakest, most dire moments when it looked impossible,” Cignetti said. “Barely a minute to go and haven’t gotten anything offensively in quite awhile, quarterback taking a lot of shots and to all the sudden start making plays like we made, incredible plays.
“To score at the end like that … it’s a game of inches, it truly is. This team refused to lose and I’m proud of this football team.”
Intercepted on a previous fourth-quarter pass attempt that gave Penn State a change-of-possession at Indiana’s 44-yard line and led to a touchdown, Mendoza shook off the mistake and showed pinpoint accuracy in the final moments.
“The best thing I can say is we refused to lose,” Cignetti said. “We had that one last big run left in us. I guarantee you when Fernando got sacked on first down, how many people in this room counted us out? Right? Great drive.”
What’s next for Indiana
Cignetti’s now 21-2 at Indiana and pushed this season’s record to 10-0 after debuting behind Ohio State in Tuesday night’s first College Football Playoff rankings. With a win over Wisconsin next week, the Hoosiers lock in their first Big Ten Championship Game appearance in program history.
Indiana reached the playoff for the first time last fall, but fell flat at Notre Dame in the first round, who eventually reached the national championship. This time around, getting to Indianapolis likely cements an opening-round bye for the Hoosiers, who would play in the Orange Bowl as the No. 3 seed behind the Buckeyes and projected SEC champion unless they’re able to topple Ohio State.
Indiana’s strength of schedule ranks at the bottom of the teams currently inside the selection committee’s top 4 and entering Saturday’s win at Penn State, had the easiest slate remaining among playoff contenders based on the combined records of remaining opponents.
Indiana had no Power Four opponents in its nonconference slate this season, while Ohio State played Texas, Alabama lost to Florida State and Texas A&M beat Notre Dame.
“Yeah, the schedule is the schedule,” selection committee chair Mack Rhoades said earlier this week. “We don’t talk about scheduling philosophy and how any team scheduled. We just looked at hey, this is who they have on the schedule. This is the outcome of those games. Then looking at all of the metrics at our disposal.”
