The confetti from the Rose Bowl has barely settled, but for Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the celebration is already over. The Hoosiers didn’t embark on this run for a quarterfinal win. The goal has always been to win the national championship. Ahead of their Peach Bowl game against Oregon, the Indiana QB1 stressed it again to his team.

“If you need to motivate someone on the team at that point, I don’t know that they should be playing because everyone understands how massive a game this is,” he said on Thursday in a press conference.

“It’s massive for our careers. It’s massive for the Indiana programs and for college football in general. Playing national championship semifinal games is a huge honor. Some of you look back when you were six years old or older. And something that you dreamed up when you were a kid. So, it’s all about staying in the moment. Playing the best competition that you could do every single play.”

The 2025 season has combined two journeys at Bloomington. On the one end, a transfer QB who has been doubted at every stage of his life. On the other, a program that has next to little history when it comes to college football. Until the arrival of Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers were a footnote in their own conference. This season, we have seen a Heisman run and an undefeated stretch that blew teams like Ohio State and Alabama away.

This would be the first time Indiana enters the national championship race in its program’s history, and Mendoza is making sure that dream becomes a reality.

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However, defeating Oregon will be a tall order, especially since the two sides have already played each other in the regular season. The Hoosiers won the game at Eugene, 30-20. To add to the magnitude of the occasion, there’s the tough reality that it’s difficult to beat the same team twice in the same season. However, a lot has changed for the two sides since then.

“We’ve grown, found different strengths, and adapted as the season’s gone on,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning shared in a press conference ahead of the semi-finals.

“When we played earlier in the season, Dante hadn’t played a ton of games,” Coach Lanning added. “Dante’s been a great decision-maker throughout the year, and that’ll be really important in this game.”

To add to that, Oregon will be healthier on the offense. They didn’t have a great outing against Texas Tech, but Dante Moore did enough to win the game. Indiana would require more than that, though.

Fernando Mendoza has high praise for Oregon QB Dante Moore

Indiana dominated Oregon in Week 6, but defeating a Dan Lanning-led program twice is as challenging as it gets. One of the many reasons the Ducks remain a challenging opponent owes to their dual-threat signal-caller. So far, Moore has recorded 3,280 passing yards and 28 touchdowns, helping Oregon rank in the top 10 in scoring offense.

“He is a fantastic quarterback, he is one of the best college quarterbacks, for sure, no doubt this season,” Fernando Mendoza said about Moore.

While praising the QB, he further touched on each other’s collegiate journey. Mendoza, during his time at Cal, had faced off against the Ducks, concluding in a 19-63 loss. However, at that time, Moore was still at UCLA, but since then, his growth at Oregon has been impressive. At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Ducks may arrive as the underdogs, yet the Hoosiers are already on high alert.