Miami Gardens, FL – The Indiana Hoosiers defeated at tough Miami Hurricane team (13-3) with great defense in the first half and big plays by offense, defense and special teams in the second half to win the 2025 CFP title, 27-21. The win came from a program totaling the most losses (713) among all of Power Four football programs. The hire of Head Coach Curt Cignetti in 2024 turned this program around in just two seasons for a 27-2 record and a National Championship.
In a hard-fought battle, IU’s defense shutdown Miami in the first half to take a 10-0 lead into half time. They held the Hurricane offense to 69 yards of total offense. Nico Radicic’s 34-yard FG in the first quarter and Riley Nowakowski’s one-yard run to cap an 85-yard TD drive in the second gave Indiana the early lead. Both teams went into their respective locker rooms to make adjustments at halftime for what would become an exciting, down-to-the-wire finish.
Miami adjusts quicker
A solid Miami defensive front led by Rueben Bain, Jr and Akheem Mesidor sacked Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza twice in the first series of the second to force a punt. Taking over on their 38, the Hurricanes struck with lightning. On their second play, Mark Fletcher Jr. charged off right tackle and raced unscathed for a 57-yard touchdown run to finally put the Hurricanes on the board, 10-7.
For the balance of the third, neither offense projected any offense. Between both, Indiana picked up just one first down on all four possessions before punting. However, on Miami’s punt on their second from their 16, Indiana’s return team regained momentum. DL Mikail Kamara leaped up to knock down Dylan Joyce’s punt into the end zone. LB Isaiah Jones recovered for a Hoosier touchdown. Jones had broken up a pass two plays prior to keep Miami deep in their own territory before the punt.
Miami retaliates
Falling behind,17-7, the Hurricanes’ next possession ignited a drive into the final period as their fans raised the four fingers in traditional fashion to indicate getting ready for victory in the fourth. With Fletcher doing the work on the ground, Carson Beck made key passes to WR’s CJ Daniels and freshman sensation Malachi Toney (10 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD) to keep the drive alive. Fletcher (17 rushes, 112 yards, 2 TDs) carried the ball in from the three to get back within three, 17-14.
Cignetti makes key decision
This week’s Guest Game Analyst (GGA) and new friend Bob Gardner (Evansville U. and IU fan) and I noted to this point that the Indiana Heisman winner had not really attempted a run to mix into the rushing offense for the Hoosiers. On the next possession, the Hoosiers drove all the way to the Miami 12. On third down and four, Mendoza’s pass landed incomplete. HC Curt Cignetti faced a dilemma here. Go for the field goal for a six-point lead with 9:27 left? Hope his stingy defense would not allow another touchdown or go for a first down and a TD. A TD would make this a two-score lead. If his team came up empty, Miami had a long way to score. Carson Beck had a history of comeback wins under his belt. What to do?
Indiana Mendoza’s Heisman moment
While calling time-out to make a decision, Cignetti’s kicking unit entered the field. Our GGA Bob had his mind made up to “go for it.” The time-out ended, and Cignetti rushed his offense back on the field as he concurred with Bob. Under center, Mendoza called his own number. He ran right, put his head down, picked up the first, but didn’t stop there. He bowled over a would-be tackler, slid off another, extended the ball over his head and launched himself high over the goal line for a charismatic six-point score. The crowd of the 67% Hoosier fans among the 67,227 in attendance erupted with pandemonium. However, with the time remaining, many IU fans after the game including Bob’s friends, IU grads/fans Terry, Rory and Susie and his sister Lois, admitted they still had concerns about a Hurricane comeback!
Hoosier concerns confirmed
All IU fans around us thought the same thing when Miami went back on offense. “Watch out for number 10, Malachi Toney!” Mostly, that notion was correct. He caught the first pass for 8 yards. Next, on a critical third and 15, we got thrown off. Beck completed a 22-yard pass to his TE Alex Bauman for his only reception of the game.
However, original fears came to fruition. With no huddle, Beck connected with Toney on the 49. He took it to the Indiana 22. Two plays later, Beck connected with Toney again. He bounces off and around tacklers with great quickness. He took it in for an amazing touchdown to now trail, 24-21. 6:37 remained.
Indiana offense goes back to work
Starting from the 25, the Hoosier offense went on a workman like drive with carries by Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black to the Miami 33. They kept the ball in play to run the clock. Miami HC Mario Cristobal had to save his time-outs to have a shot if his team could get the ball back. IU got down to the two-minute time-out. With 1:42, Ridicic’ booted a 35-yard FG to extend the IU lead, 27-21. Miami ran out of time-outs in the meantime.
Beck looked to work some magic as he’d done in the past. The Canes got to the IU 47. On second and three, Beck launched a long pass down the left sideline to Keelan Marion. Slightly short, Hoosier DB Jamari Sharpe swooped in to make the INT. Indiana took over from its three. The crowd exalted as the Indiana offense went into victory formation. As Hoosier fans rejoiced, Hurricane fans left their seats, mostly congratulating IU fans cordially on the way out.
Confetti filled the air, fireworks went off and Indiana players along with HC Curt Cignetti took the podium to the cheers of their long-suffering, surprised but happy, faithful fans. Mendoza (16 for 27 passing, 186 passing yards and one great 12-yard scoring run) accepted the MVP award on behalf of his teammates. It was truly a great team effort by a program no one could ever have imagined achieved this unbelievable celebration just two years ago!
After thoughts:
Where did we come up with the 67% Indiana contingent in the crowd? When the song of the night was voted on by the Hard Rock crowd, the choices of artists were ABBA, Bon Jovi and John Mellencamp. Mellencamp, an Indiana icon and avid Hoosier fan, received 67% of the votes. The fix was in on that.
Indiana established a record for having two undefeated national champions in both football and basketball. Not only did we attend three IU football victories (Illinois, Oregon and Miami) this year, but 50 years ago, saw two Hoosier basketball victories on their way to their 1976 national championship. With friends Les Di Vite and Fred Bacchetta, who still attend football games with us today, we watched HC Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers featuring great players such as Quinn Buckner, Scott May and Kent Benson. They defeated Manhattan College and St. John’s in the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden in late December 1975. They went on to defeat Michigan in the Final Four to go 32-0, the last time a D1 college basketball team went undefeated. So, at the Hard Rock, we attended a unique achievement in all of college sports history.
Great time meeting Bob Gardner for the first time. We met through long-time friends of his in Indiana, John and Susie Pouder, who St. Laurie and I met on a river cruise last summer from Paris to Normandy Beach. Bob has many great sports affiliations. In the past, he was President of the Indiana High School Athletic Association. He coached sports in Evansville early in his career.
Next season?
We’re working on it. Only the full SEC Schedule is out right now. Some other conferences have announced opponents for schedules but not dates. We will be perusing the options as they come out. We already have a wish list of new places we’d like to attend to see games at certain stadiums for the first time. Also, we plan to get to our historically traditional venues to catch up with good friends and favorite venues. Current thoughts are to cut down on mid-week games to budget ourselves for the best of post-season play (CFP and others similar to what we attended this year). Somewhere along the way, we’ll make considerations to plan something for our 750th game next season!
Request from me
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Speaking of History!
Click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 740 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person at least once. This tells our story! Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Get it, enjoy it, and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe these will bring back some memories you encountered when we did!
- Edited and written by Stephen J. Koreivo, member of Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Author of “Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.”
