What we're watching
• It all comes down to this: One game left in the college football season and it is for all the marbles: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 10 Miami in the College Football Playoff national title game. The game is 0-0 in the first quarter.
• Indiana’s incredible run: The Hoosiers – long a college football doormat – are playing for the national championship for the first time in school history. Curt Cignetti’s charges are 15-0 and looking to complete a program turnaround for the ages.
• The U back in the mix: Miami is playing on their home turf and is back in the national title picture for the first time in more than two decades. Mario Cristobal refuses to say The U is back, but this Hurricanes squad will certainly have a place among the greats in program history.
• Stick with CNN Sports: We’ll be here with live updates from on the ground at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and analysis.
Miami defense playing with some swagger
Miami was definitely making a statement on that first defensive drive.
The Hurricanes didn’t simply tackle the Hoosiers; they were downright mean about it. Jakobe Thomas wrapped up Roman Hemby with force on first down, and Mohamed Toure made it a point to drive Hemby out of bounds with authority on second down.
And the pass rush chasing Fernando Mendoza was relentless, not just content to flush Mendoza out of the pocket; Marquise Lightfoot made sure Mendoza met the carpet.
Miami’s defense has been its stalwart all season, and you got the feeling that the Hurricanes were eating up the chance to prove themselves against Mendoza and company.
Score: Hurricanes 0, Hoosiers 0
Hurricanes' defense forces the dynamic Hoosiers' offense to punt
Indiana’s high-octane offense takes over in the shadow of its own end zone for the Hoosiers’ first possession of the game.
A quick 11-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza to Omar Cooper, Jr. gives the Hoosiers a little breathing room.
Miami’s defense stiffened and forced a third-and-long. The Hurricanes’ pass rush flushed Mendoza out of the pocket and the Heisman Trophy winner was forced to throw the ball away.
The ball goes back to Miami on a punt.
Score: Hurricanes 0, Hoosiers 0
Hurricanes fail to score on opening drive
The Miami Hurricanes failed to score on the opening drive. Miami picked up one first down before having to punt.
Indiana and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza will get the ball at its own 4-yard line after a 47-yard punt from Miami.
Score: Hurricanes 0, Hoosiers 0
If you have (a ton of) money, you can get a seat here
Miami and Indiana fans have been traveling hundreds of miles to playoff games.
Yes, even tonight for Hurricanes fans.
A Miami family sitting in the front row paid $6,000 for each ticket.
One Indiana fan said before the playoffs, he went to every game and only spent a couple hundred dollars for season tickets, but for this game he spent over a thousand dollars to be here.
Totally worth it.
The quest for a national title begins now
The College Football Playoff national championship game between No. 1 Indiana and No. 10 Miami is underway in front of a sold-out and electric crowd at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Hoosiers have kicked off to the Hurricanes as quarterback Carson Beck gets ready to lead Miami on the opening drive.
It’s a beautiful 60-degree night at kickoff. Skies are clear, with a 16-mph breeze.
This is the third all-time meeting between the schools and first since 1966.
Score: Hurricanes 0, Hoosiers 0
Indiana wins the coin toss, elects to defer
After performances of “America the Beautiful” and the national anthem, referee Michael VanderVeld of the Big 12 Conference officiating crew and delegations from each team met at midfield for the coin toss.
Despite being less than 20 miles from their Coral Gables campus, the Miami Hurricanes are the designated road team and picked tails on the coin toss.
The coin came up heads and Indiana elected to defer, so the Hoosiers will kick off to the Hurricanes to begin the game.
The buzz inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens is reaching electric levels as the start of the game is just moments away.
Trump in attendance and gets a big cheer from fans
President Donald Trump was greeted by a hearty round of applause here when cameras showed him during the singing of the national anthem.
Hurricanes without DB for first half
Miami will be without defensive back Xavier Lucas for the first half.
Lucas was called for targeting in the second half of the Fiesta Bowl. By rule any player ejected for targeting in the second half must sit out the first half of his next game.
It’s a big blow for an already depleted Hurricane secondary as it faces Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. Damari Brown is day-to-day with a foot injury and OJ Frederique Jr. played sparingly against Ole Miss.
Asked about the suspension, Hurricane coach Mario Cristobal was measured with his words but got his point across.
“We feel it was unjustly administered and now it impacts the last game of the season,’’ he said on Sunday.
No. 15's pregame routine is based on faith and corrective lenses
Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza doesn’t do anything without first giving thanks. Indiana’s signal caller is a man of faith and he’s not shy about giving full credit to God for the life he has experienced thus far.
Ahead of kickoff, ESPN’s Holly Rowe ran through the Miami native’s pre-title-game routine, which starts with waking up and watching a Catholic mass online before eating and attending game-prep meetings.
Then comes a 30-to-60-minute nap. He’ll pray rosary on the team bus headed to Hard Rock Stadium.
Once on-site, he’ll put in his contact lenses. According to Rowe, the contacts are new this season (and appears to be working as evidence of his more touchdown passes thrown (8) than incompletions (5) during the postseason.
Finally, he’ll spend 10 minutes meditating, hoping to find the perfect mix of zen and calm before the opening snap.
After Oregon win, Indiana said they refused to be complacent. The test comes tonight
They stood a few yards apart on the confetti-strewn field, one a redshirt senior offensive lineman who serves as the anchor of his team, the other a sophomore defensive lineman who has yet to log his first career start.
They were discussing the same big thing – the machine that is now the Indiana Hoosiers – but from entirely different perspectives. Yet both said the same word over and over again.
“We’re afraid to death of complacency,’’ said Pat Coogan, the lineman.
“We never want to be complacent,’’ said Daniel Ndukwe, the defensive lineman.
It sounds simple. It is not, of course. No one wants to settle at anything but the human spirit being what it is, invariably it happens. Except, apparently, among the Hoosiers who play football as if not playing football hard would be an unforgivable sin.
The reckoning in college football is not coming via financial windfall, as everyone thought that it might in the NIL era. It is coming via old-school values that tend to seep into the soil in the Midwest. Work hard. Take nothing for granted. Don’t settle. Never get complacent.
With a 56-22 dismantling of Oregon, Indiana has romped through this College Football Playoff like nothing the sport has seen in years, if ever. In the last three games, the Hoosiers have held Ohio State to 10 points, Alabama to three and Oregon to 21, though that should come with an asterisk. The Ducks scored their last touchdown with 34 seconds left in the game.
That is, to underscore, Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon. The first two have won 25 national titles between them. Indiana has lost more than 700 games in its history.
Next up is none other than The U, yet another member of the college football hoi polloi, in a championship game that might require organ donation to get a ticket. The Miami Hurricanes are at home, while the entire state of Indiana – save for some in West Lafayette – is content to abandon their homes to enjoy this unexpectedly stupefying playoff march.
Mario Cristobal's only-in-Miami story
Mario Campos grew up deep in the hills of Cuba, a guajiro as the poor farmers there were called.
Despite his rural roots, Campos wound his way to a job with the national police. He kept his position for 26 years, until Fidel Castro came to power and those who worked under the Batista regime were tossed into prison.
Campos was one of the lucky ones. His association with the overthrown Batista government was through the police and not political, a distinction that may have spared him his life and certainly aided his relatively early release from prison. In 1961, as soon as he was freed, Campos fled Cuba for Florida.
He could not speak, write or read English, and the country he now called home did not necessarily want him. In the early 1960s businesses readily hung “Cubans Don’t Apply” signs on their windows. Undeterred, Campos taught himself the language, found work as a dishwasher, and saved up his money so he could buy a produce truck.
Idling along the road one day for a lunch break, Campos spied someone building houses. He struck up a conversation with the man about his job, divining some basic information about construction and determined – with absolutely no background or experience whatsoever – that he, too, could become a general contractor.
In 1970, Campos Construction Company Inc., filed for incorporation. Mario Campos would build and work on houses well into his 70s, including a string along SW 25th Street in Miami that belonged to his extended family.
On Monday night, Mario Cristobal – a second-generation Cuban American, the son and grandson of Cuban exiles, and one-time resident of 6713 SW 25th Street – will lead the University of Miami onto the Hard Rock Stadium field for the College Football Playoff national championship, a personal ascension nearly as improbable as the team revolution at Indiana.
How a call from Curt Cignetti's father to Nick Saban's wife set in motion Indiana's rise
Nick Saban wanted to change his job description. After three years coaching linebackers, he was eager to take over the secondary, where he’d played in college. He was not, however, so sure he wanted to change jobs.
It was 1978, and he’d spent the past season at Syracuse University. While the Orange’s 6-5 record didn’t necessarily reflect it, Saban was fairly certain the staff was onto something and he thought he ought to stick around.
So when Frank Cignetti, Sr., called to offer him a job coaching the defensive backs at West Virginia – a team Syracuse had beaten 28-9 in the last game of the season – Saban was tempted but not entirely sold. He didn’t know Cignetti personally and figured someone on his staff must have recommended him. Probably because of his West Virginia roots.
So Saban mulled the decision only to find it wasn’t his to make. Cignetti already had closed the deal.
Terry Constable and Nick Saban met as seventh graders in Fairmont, West Virginia. She’d gone with Nick to Kent State as an undergrad, the two marrying during the holiday break in 1971. She thought her husband was going into the car business like his father - the original plan was to go to General Motors school after graduation.
Instead, while Terry finished her coursework, Nick took a job as a graduate assistant on the football team. Two years later, the would-be holdover gig turned into a full career pivot, and Nick chased his coaching dream to Syracuse, the first step in what would invariably be a far more nomadic career than the car business for the Sabans.
And now here was Cignetti offering Terry an unbelievable gift – the chance to go home.
“Frank taught me to figure out who was the key in the recruiting process. Who’s going to have the most influence? He was a master at that,’’ Saban told CNN Sports. “And in my case, it was Miss Terry.”’
Crowd tilted toward Indiana
A little hard to tell the crowd split here. It’s definitely more even than Atlanta, where Indiana fans overwhelmed Oregon visitors but still feels like it tilts toward the Hoosiers. In the lower bowl, IU basically holds serve the length of the field behind its own bench and until about the 50 on the Miami side.
The upper deck looks very red. I’m leaning 65-35 toward Indiana.
President Trump expected to be in the house tonight
President Donald Trump is expected to attend tonight’s College Football Playoff national title game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the latest high-profile sporting event the president has attended.
Trump has been at the Ryder Cup, the US Open men’s tennis final, a Yankees-Tigers baseball game on September 11, Super Bowl LIX, Club World Cup Final, multiple UFC events and other high-profile events during the last year or so.
Fans are starting to filter into the stadium now, getting in early to try and navigate the enhanced security that a presidential visit brings.
This Miami high school’s fingerprints are all over the title game
Back in 2023, Jase Richardson sought a more rigorous athletic and academic high school program for his senior year. His younger brother, Jaxon, was attending a Team USA Under 16 training camp out, competing alongside Cameron and Cayden Boozer.
They suggested their spot: Christopher Columbus High School.
Together, they’d already led Columbus to one 7A state title. Selfishly, they knew Jase would help his team, but they also thought Columbus would help Jase.
He did some quick Googling. He screwed up his nose at first when he saw that it was an all-boys school but did a little more searching anyway. He liked what he saw, so Jase and his family relocated from Las Vegas to Miami. On the first day of school, Jase sat down in his honors calculus class and introduced himself to the kid sitting next to him.
Alberto Mendoza said hello. The two became friends, Alberto filling in Jase on what a great spot Columbus had been for him as well as his big brother, Fernando.
And now a pause to recap the players involved. Jase Richardson, who spent just one year at Michigan State, was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Cayden Boozer averages 6.4 points and 3.2 assists for No. 6 Duke and is on more than a few NBA draft boards. His twin brother, Cam, leads the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding and, come this June, will be a first-round pick and possibly the top overall player elected.
And Alberto Mendoza is the backup quarterback for Indiana, which will play for the national championship against Miami on Monday. His big brother, Fernando won the Heisman and more than likely will be the top draft pick in the NFL draft.
One high school, two sports, four draft picks in two years. And we’re only getting started. Denver Broncos All-Pro quarterback Brian Griese went to Columbus and so did Alonzo Highsmith, the third overall NFL pick in 1987. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez spent a year there and University of Miami football coach Mario Cristobal is an alum.
Alberto Mendoza isn’t going anywhere
While his brother held court at a small dais on media day, Alberto sat with his teammates on a metal bleacher. He got his share of attention - mostly fielding questions about his big brother, Fernando.
But there is a bit of intrigue surrounding Alberto, too. Alberto transferred from Kennesaw State to Indiana before Fernando and helped sell the Hoosiers to his brother. The pitch clearly went well for all parties. Fernando has a Heisman. Indiana is playing for a national title.
Alberto meanwhile bided his time. He understandably played sparingly this season, but hoped to have a shot at the starting signalcaller position next year. But, amid prepping for Indiana’s run to the title game, Curt Cignetti dipped back into the transfer portal for a quarterback. The Hoosiers snared TCU’s Josh Hoover, who threw for 3,949 yards this season.
So now what? Asked if he might consider transferring, Alberto shook his head definitely.
“No,’’ he said. “I’m ready to compete.’’
Best friends most days, enemies today
Bryant Haines admits the first time he met Corey Hetherman, he wasn’t sure he’d like him.
Haines worked for Curt Cignetti as his linebackers coach at Elon and when Cignetti moved to James Madison he figured he’d get a shot at the defensive coordinator gig since Cignetti’s Elon defensive signalcaller, Tony Trisciani, stayed on as head coach.
Instead Cignetti brought Hetherman in from the University of Maine and tabbed the two men co-defensive coordinators.
“I felt like maybe I was ready,’’ Haines says. “But what I love so much about Corey, and what makes him a great coach is he wants to collaborate. He was open to my ideas. He didn’t shove the scheme in our face and say, ‘Hey this is what we’re doing.’ It was all of us.’’
The two worked incredibly well together, leading the Dukes to the best defense in FCS before the program transferred to FBS. So well in fact that, in 2021 when Core married his wife, Jill, he asked Bryant to stand up for him as his best man.
Hetherman wound up leaving JMU for Rutgers and Haines took the defensive reins on his own. He followed Cignetti to Indiana as Hetherman followed his career trajectory on to Minnesota and finally to a new job this year.
He’s the defensive coordinator at Miami.
“We text all the time,’’ Hetherman says. “I wished him good luck in the Peach Bowl and he did the same for me. We both texted each other congrats after we won. But, uh, that’s been about it.’’
Fernando Mendoza isn’t really perfect, is he?
Pat Coogan hemmed. He hawed. He gazed into space and stroked his chin, clearly pondering one of the most difficult questions he’d been asked at the College Football Championship media day.
“I really don’t know the answer,’’ the Indiana lineman said finally. “And it’s annoying because I’m trying to come up with one right now.’’
The riddle he couldn’t solve: What does Fernando Mendoza do wrong? The Indiana quarterback won the Heisman and led his team to the national championship game. He has a degree from Cal. He’s earnest and thoughtful. He loves his mother. He’s humble and God-fearing. He looks people in the eye when he speaks. Even his nail beds are well groomed.
But it can’t be real. There has to be a fatal flaw. And yet … a quick survey of folks who know him well found everyone as stymied as Coogan. Head coach Curt Cignetti practically guffawed when asked, as if the mere concept of Mendoza doing something wrong was absurd.
Wide receiver Charlie Becker, who shares a house with Mendoza and a few other players, said he and his housemates actually had this very conversation the other day. Just thinking about guys moving on and ways they could improve as people, as players, whatever.
“And we were all pretty much stumped with Fernando,’’ he said.
Even baby brother Alberto had no tea to spill. He admitted they used to scrap his kids. Punches might get thrown and someone would go crying back to mom. But that was years ago. Now? Alberto laughed.
“So he gets a lot of stuff because he’s him,’’ Alberto said. “And sometimes he lets the boxes stack up. Like not that many.’’
How horrid.
It was left, then, to the source himself to solve the riddle. Fernando insisted he wasn’t perfect, though he didn’t exactly list a lot of flaws. He did own up to the box collection, but then quickly made up for it by saying he probably needed to apologize to Becker, whose bedroom is nearest to it.
Finally, after ruminating a bit, Mendoza wound up his way to the most hilarious flaw of all.
“I’m a people pleaser,’’ he said. “People have said to me. You always want to make a good impression on everybody, but you need to focus on the right things. Sometimes you have to say no. And that’s true. I need to learn to say no.’’
So there it is: the worst thing about Fernando Mendoza is he’s too nice.
Cuban greeted ... sort of ... by Miami band
Fans here heeded the advice to arrive early on account of President Trump’s scheduled attendance. They were in the stands as early as 5 p.m. ET and were filing up a good hour before kickoff.
Among those milling out on the sidelines early: Mark Cuban. The proud IU graduate did a few interviews on the Miami sideline before going behind the end zone to get to the Hoosier side. En route, however, he had to pass the Miami band. They booed him giddily.
High school coaches reflect on Mendoza and Beck's championship journey
As Florida-bred quarterbacks - Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Miami’s Carson Beck - battle for the national championship, the deep Florida roots were on display Saturday on CNN as the players’ former high school head coaches shared their perspectives on the journey to the big stage.
Mendoza’s head coach at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, David Dunn, saw his former standout return to Miami as a Heisman champion as a full-circle moment.
“It’s been a great ride to watch the success that Fernando has had this year,” he said. “To have the ability to win the Heisman Trophy, cap an undefeated season, and get a chance to play for the National Championship in your own backyard—it’s pretty surreal.”
As for Beck, his head coach at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, noted that Beck’s ascent to collegiate stardom was not surprising.
Bobby Ramsay, who also coached NFL star Derrick Henry in high school, sees a similar rare drive in the Hurricanes’ quarterback.
“The traits were certainly there physically, and his love of the game—I was fortunate to be able to coach Derrick Henry in high school, and that was something similar about the two of them,” Ramsay said. “They love football and everything that goes into making themselves the best players they can become. I’m not surprised he’s in this situation at all.”
