Is Fernando Mendoza A Worthy Heisman Winner?
HeisMendoza certainly has his detractors.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was the recipient of some serious hardware at last night's Heisman Trophy ceremony, capturing the award, becoming the first Hoosier in school history to be crowned the best player in college football.
We talked a lot yesterday about some of the more infamous Heisman snubs in the 90-year history of the award, and while I don't think Mendoza should have been the runaway favorite, I don't think anyone can say they were snubbed last night (though Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia had some choice words for the voters).
Just because there weren't any snubs last night doesn't mean there aren't still questions about Mendoza's legitimacy in his claim to the award, though.
Plenty have questioned whether this was the weakest Heisman winner in recent memory, and while I don't believe that's fair to Mendoza or any of the other finalists, there are some discussions that need to be had.
I won't make a claim one way or another, but I'll lay out some pros and cons for Mendoza's case and let you decide for yourself.
Pros:
Let's start with the obvious, what Mendoza was able to do in leading Indiana of all teams to a Big Ten Championship and number one overall seed in the College Football Playoff can't be overstated.
This isn't exactly a roster that is flush with Power 4 talent, so Mendoza, by virtue of playing the most important position on the field, should get plenty of recognition for that.
His 71.6% completion percentage to go along with only six interceptions is also eye-opening. Again, considering most of the defenses he played were leaps and bounds more talented than his offense, it deserves consideration.
Some other stats to consider: Mendoza is second in the nation in passer rating and fifth in yards per attempt.
Mendoza also had his signature "Heisman Moment," a last-minute comeback win against Penn State in Happy Valley, a building that has plagued the Hoosiers in the past.
Despite all of this, there are plenty of detractors with valid arguments against Mendoza's big win.
Cons:
For starters, Mendoza was barely top-25 in passing yards and wasn't even the most prolific passer at the ceremony last night.
To take things even further, Mendoza had one of the lowest passing numbers of any Heisman winning quarterback over the last two decades.
Mendoza also ranked outside the top-50 in passing attempts, meaning he wasn't asked to carry the team too often, and only had one 300-yard passing game this season.
Also, and this may be a little more subjective, you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that if you swapped Mendoza and Pavia that the results would be similar for both teams.
At the end of the day, an argument could be made either way on Mendoza's claim to the Heisman Trophy.
Regardless, he will go down in history as a winner and still has an opportunity to put the cherry on top of his season with a national championship.
I'm sure he isn't too concerned with what we all think about him at this point.