CFB Blitz: Title game takeaways

College Football Blitz recaps the most important developments from the CFP title game, with Indiana winning the first national championship in program history.

HeisMendoza's all-time moment

The man who brought us "98 yards with my boys" in 2024 returns with "12 yards to the title." You can break Monday's national championship game down in many ways, but perhaps the most obvious analysis is this: One team had Fernando Mendoza and the other didn't. The Heisman winner authored an all-time championship moment in the fourth quarter.

It took a monumental gamble from Curt Cignetti to set the stage for his quarterback. The second-year coach opted to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 12-yard line instead of kicking a field goal that would've given Indiana a six-point lead. Cignetti's decision was likely heavily influenced by the Hurricanes pushing the Hoosiers around the field in the third quarter. Miami outgained Indiana 150-11 in total yardage in that frame, and the coach sensed a six-point lead might not be enough.

Now Indiana needed to execute a perfect play.

"The coverage before they were in, the coverage where that play would work, we put it in for this game," Cignetti said on the ESPN broadcast afterward. "It was quarterback draw, but it was blocked differently. We rolled the dice and said, 'They are going to be in it again,' and they were, and we blocked it well. He broke a tackle or two and got in the end zone."

"Broke a tackle or two" is slightly downplaying what Mendoza did.

That put the Hoosiers up 10, a crucial number as Miami eventually responded to cut the deficit back to seven. Had Cignetti been more conservative and kicked the field goal - or had Mendoza not given a third and fourth effort and scored - the trophy might be heading down Ocean Drive right now.

Not bad for a quarterback who was declined a walk-on spot to Miami coming out of high school.

Special teams flipped the game

Cignetti, Mendoza, and the nation's second-ranked defensive unit get most of the hype for Indiana, but the Hoosiers' elite special teams unit made potentially the biggest momentum-shifting play of the night.

The first half played out like most of the season had for Indiana. The Big Ten champs dominated Miami 169-69 in total yards, with an 11-3 edge in first downs. However, it was 10-0 at halftime - a scoreline that kept Miami fully involved.

Mario Cristobal and the coaching staff should be given a ton of credit for their adjustments at the half, because the Hurricanes' pass-rush took over in the third quarter. Mendoza got the ball out in 2.1 seconds on average in the opening half, a quick-strike approach that kept him from taking a sack.

The Hurricanes stretched their pass-rushers out in the second half, sacking Mendoza three times. Indiana punted three times in the third quarter alone, looking overwhelmed. And then the special teams unit - as it has throughout Cignetti's tenure - rose to the occasion.

Unlike many other programs, Cignetti opts to use a number of star players on special teams. That approach has helped his Indiana team block eight kicks during his two seasons, the most in the country over that span.

The eighth was certainly the sweetest, with starting defensive end Mikail Kamara - the team's sack leader last season - doing the honors.

There were plenty of points after that blocked kick, but it allowed Indiana the breathing room to figure out the offense, which it was able to do in the fourth quarter.

Miami's dynamic pass-rush duo showed up

Look, a shoutout in the CFB Blitz ain't gonna lessen the pain of the loss for Miami's dynamic pass-rush duo, but the Hurricanes pair deserves their flowers for a very impressive showing - especially in the second half.

Mendoza entered the game having thrown more touchdown passes in the playoff than incompletions. That wouldn't be the case Monday as the pass rush of Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain Jr. wrecked Indiana's offensive line. The duo combined for three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in the defeat, playing a massive role in preventing Mendoza from throwing a touchdown pass for the first time since Week 1.

Mendoza still supplied the play of the game with his epic run, but the defense largely kept Indiana's offense in check. The Hoosiers were outgained 342-317 despite the fact they ran 19 more plays. That highlights the significance of the blocked punt touchdown - Indiana's offense really wasn't having much success driving the field in the second half.

Lack of discipline hurt the Canes

Miami's most impressive victory of the season was its win over Ohio State in the quarterfinals. It was also the cleanest showing from a team perspective, with the Hurricanes committing zero penalties. Since then, however, Miami's seen more flags than an Olympic opening ceremony.

Ten penalties for 74 yards against Ole Miss damn near cost the Hurricanes the game. Two of those calls were 15-yard penalties that extended a late Rebels touchdown drive. It didn't wind up costing the Hurricanes in that one, but the carryover to the title game was real.

Miami tallied seven more penalties for 60 yards Monday (plus a couple obvious missed calls), with a number of them coming at crucial moments. Two glaring fouls on third downs helped extend Indiana's first touchdown drive, which gave the Hoosiers a 10-point lead.

Big Ten rules the SEC's former kingdom

The SEC will insist football "just means more" in that conference, but that clearly isn't the case in the era of the transfer portal and NIL. With Indiana's victory Monday, the Big Ten has now won the last three national championships after the SEC took four in a row from 2019-22. Even more notably, the SEC hasn't put a team in the national championship game since Georgia won in 2022.

The Big Ten has not only won the last three titles, it's produced three different champions. Michigan and Ohio State don't jump off the page as surprises, but Indiana's title is about as improbable as it gets.

And a reprieve doesn't appear to be on the horizon. Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana are already among the betting favorites to win the 2027 title.