Indiana Earns Sports Illustrated Cover After Championship Victory

Arguably nan top communicative successful modern assemblage shot history will beryllium getting nan curen it truthful good deserves.

Fernando Mendoza's unthinkable tally and dive into nan endzone connected Indiana's gutsy fourth-and-goal playcall will get nan Sports Illustrated screen this week, and nan photograph to item it is astir arsenic bully arsenic nan crippled and play itself.

Leading 17-14 pinch 9:18 to play successful Monday night's National Championship game, Indiana caput coach Curt Cignetti called a timeout and opted to go-for-it alternatively of footwear nan section extremity and perchance spell up six points.

It wasn't 4th and short by immoderate means, but alternatively a fourth-and-four. Cignetti and nan Hoosiers past opted to support nan shot successful nan hands of assemblage football's champion subordinate successful 2025, letting Mendoza make a tally for nan ages and into nan history books.

In 2024, 1 of nan champion games of nan full play coiled up being erstwhile Miami went to California and had an epic comeback arsenic it rallied to hit nan Bears. Nobody knew past that we were up precocious connected a Saturday nighttime watching a early Heisman Trophy and nationalist champion backmost return connected nan squad he would play successful that nationalist title game.

During it though, Mendoza had a designed tally wherever he was popped by Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe. On nan play, Mendoza was stopped good short of nan gait to summation and Cal was forced to punt, resulting successful Miami getting nan shot back, and driving to win.

Fast guardant a twelvemonth and a fewer months and who was nan linebacker that Mendoza went done connected his measurement to nan extremity area connected that epic run?

You guessed it. Check retired a item of some runs below.

If you're going to ain 1 portion of memorabilia from Indiana's nationalist title game, wouldn't it make consciousness to make it nan astir iconic sports mag successful nan world?

You tin purchase your copy of nan Mendoza touchdown tally Sports Illustrated now, pinch features astir Indiana's epic tally to nan nationalist championship.

Whether for you aliases for your Indiana-loving family personnel aliases friend, this 1 is simply a must have.