Indiana rolls to the College Football Playoff final after decimating Oregon, setting up a showdown with Miami

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza celebrates after one of his five touchdown passes.

Everything we needed to know about this College Football Playoff semifinal between Indiana and Oregon happened in the first eight seconds.

Oregon’s quarterback Dante Moore took a short drop and turned to his left, firing a pass toward Malik Benson. D’Angelo Ponds had other plans. The Indiana defensive back stepped in front of the Ducks’ receiver, grabbed the pass and raced 25 yards into the end zone, putting the Hoosiers up by a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

The Hoosiers never looked back.

Indiana defensive back D'Angelo Ponds set the tone with a pick-6 on the game's opening play from scrimmage.

The defense forced two more turnovers, the special teams unit blocked a punt and Fernando Mendoza and the offense took advantage of every opportunity offered to them. Seven more touchdowns followed and Indiana could spend most of this Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl partying as they rolled to a 56-22 victory over Oregon.

Heisman winner Mendoza went 17-20, throwing for 177 yards and five touchdowns – a passer rating of 241.8. Yes, that’s a real number.

The Ducks actually outgained the Hoosiers, but that was mostly a product of Indiana having multiple scoring drives that started in the Ducks’ red zone.

Mendoza scrambles during the second half.

For a school that has long been known as a basketball blue blood, in a state largely known for the intense love of roundball that has been immortalized in film, this kind of football success was never expected. The holy site in Bloomington was always Assembly Hall, never Memorial Stadium.

But tens of thousands of Indiana faithful made the trip south to Atlanta and will likely go to South Florida on the 19th to see this historic team – a kind of only-in-this-era-of-college-football squad built by a new coach who brought in successful players from his previous school and transfers from around the country – play for the biggest prize.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti holds up the Peach Bowl trophy after the dominating win.

They’ll face a stout Miami defense and a veteran quarterback in Carson Beck, who may rival their own signal-caller for moxie in the clutch. They won’t be able to fill Hard Rock Stadium with the same crimson that packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday – it’s the Hurricanes’ home field after all.

But Friday’s game felt like another step toward destiny. In their last three games, Indiana has out-toughed Ohio State, rolled Alabama and crushed the Ducks.

Only Miami stands in their way now.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has his team one win away from a national championship.

It’s all business for Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, who didn’t exactly sound super happy after the lopsided win to get his team to the national championship.

Despite saying it “sounds good” to advance, Cignetti said “Now we gotta get ready for one more.”

With the 10-day layoff before the title game, Cignetti did come clean about his next move.

For Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, he couldn’t contain his excitement to play in his hometown.

“I used to be able to walk to the University of Miami. Used to play rec basketball or beach volleyball in the sand courts. It means a lot to myself. However, we’re really excited for the city of Miami to get the opportunity as well. I just can’t wait to play at Hard Rock Stadium.”

As for his team, Mendoza said, “We’re a bunch of misfits. There’s zero 5-stars on our team. We’re just a bunch of gritty guys who are glued together and going toward a common goal.”

Indiana players celebrate a late touchdown.

The romp over Oregon is finally, mercifully, complete as the Hoosiers’ take a knee and win the game 56-22.

It’s a performance for the history books and a day that will live forever in Hoosier lore.

Now there’s just one more game: Against Miami in their home stadium for all the marbles.

Final score: Indiana 56, Oregon 22

Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore runs with the ball during the second half.

A long run after catch from Jamari Johnson out of the two-minute timeout gets the Oregon Ducks down to the 2-yard line and in position to score a consolation touchdown.

That is if the Indiana defense lets them. A run play up the middle is stuffed and the clock ticks past the one-minute mark.

Moore drops back to pass and the ball sails over his receiver’s head, but Indiana is whistled for pass interference to stop the clock with 34 seconds to play.

The ball is snapped and Moore can’t grab onto it, picking up the fumble and throwing it away out the back of the end zone.

On the next play, Moore finds Roger Saleapaga in the back of the end zone for the consolation TD. That may be his final pass in an Oregon uniform if he declares for the draft.

Score: Indiana 56, Oregon 22

Kaelon Black adds an exclamation point for Indiana late in the fourth quarter.

It’s incredibly hard to beat a team as talented as Oregon.

It’s even harder to do it twice in one year.

It’s harder still to do it twice in one year and not have either of those games be on your home turf.

But here we are. Indiana is about to go to the national championship game with what can only be described as the most impressive win in the school’s history.

Here’s how much of a blowout this game is: Even in the Indiana sections, people have started to leave. One would think that the Hoosier faithful would want to savor this as long as possible, but there are thousands of empty red seats up on the IU side of the field and it seems like they’re eager for whatever happens next in South Florida.

Indiana fans cheer on their team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Those who remain though are standing and cheering every Hoosier fan shown on the big screen here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The action on the field is quickly becoming an afterthought.

The Ducks are driving and perhaps facing the least hostile environment of the day as the IU fans save their voices for Miami. The clock ticks toward the two-minute warning and both teams are happy watch it run as the Ducks call running plays that keep it moving and aren’t exactly rushing to get the next play off.

Two minutes to go and the impossible happens: Indiana will head to the national title game in FOOTBALL.

Score: Indiana 56, Oregon 15

Indiana running back Kaelon Black adds another score for the Hoosiers.

And now it’s the running game for IU that’s slashing through Oregon’s defense.

Khobie Martin runs for gains of 10 and 26 yards to move the Hoosiers deep into Oregon territory again. The clock keeps running as he eats some smaller chunks of yardage on the next couple plays, and neither team seems to be in a hurry to get to the line.

But when they do, Indiana is dangerous at all times. Kaelon Black rushes through a massive hole in the center of the line and scampers 23 yards for a touchdown. The Hoosiers have put eight (EIGHT) touchdowns on the board and it’s 56-15.

This kind of thing is not supposed to happen in games of this magnitude. Truly a virtuoso performance by Indiana.

Score: Indiana 56, Oregon 15

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore passes during the fourth quarter.

The body language coming from the Oregon Ducks right now is not great, and who can really blame them?

Dante Moore isn’t going out quiet though, getting the ball out quickly to avoid the unblocked Indiana defenders who are still blitzing off the edge and coming in clean.

Kenyon Sadiq picks up another first down with a 21-yard gain and the Ducks are managing to make some headway against this IU secondary. When Moore has time to throw, he’s been effective aside from one or two particularly notable plays like that opening pass.

A long pass on third-and-4 from the Indiana 35 soared over the intended receiver’s head and the Ducks once again lined up to go for it on fourth down.

Moore was flushed from the pocket again and tried to find a receiver along the sidelines, but his pass was just a bit too far out of bounds for Dakorien Moore to handle. It fell harmlessly to the ground and the ball went back to IU.

Despite the huge lead, Indiana’s starters remain in the game for Curt Cignetti. It’ll be interesting to see how long that remains the case – or whether it bites the Hoosiers.

Score: Indiana 49, Oregon 15

Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt pulls in a fourth-quarter touchdown pass.

And there is the anticipated score. Fernando Mendoza drops back, winds up and nails Elijah Sarratt with a cannon of a throw for the score.

“Hoosier daddy?” chants are coming from the Indiana fans near the press box – something usually chanted derisively at IU fans by their Big Ten foes – and it’s just a party in Atlanta right now for the Midwesterners who escaped the cold to come down to Georgia.

Score: Indiana 49, Oregon 15

Stuck once again deep in their own half, and with no choice but to put the ball in the air, Dante Moore is doing all he can to get rid of the ball quickly against the relentless IU pass rush.

Two straight short completions are followed by Moore dropping back and trying to find something downfield. A blitzing Hoosier nearly rocks him for a sack, and the ball is behind his receiver. The Ducks have to punt even if their star quarterback lingered on the field like he wanted the chance to go for it.

And because everything is going right for Indiana right now, the punt is BLOCKED. Daniel Ndukwe, who has been a game wrecker throughout this contest, gets his hand on the punt and the ball pops up in the air.

It’s returned four yards and the Hoosiers have the ball at the Ducks’ seven-yard line. Yet another gift from Oregon to the Big Ten champion.

A couple of running plays, including a keeper by Fernando Mendoza, move the ball to 2-yard line before Indiana calls its first timeout of the game.

If the Hoosiers put this one in the end zone, you have to imagine that’s the end of the night for Mendoza and the rest of the starters with Miami waiting.

Score: Indiana 42, Oregon 15

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza gives a thumbs-up in the second half.

There’s still a quarter in the game, but a trip to the national championship game is inching ever closer for Indiana.

We already know the Miami Hurricanes will play on their home turf at Hard Rock Stadium, and they will most likely face the top-seeded Hoosiers.

It will mark a homecoming for Indiana quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who grew up in the city and went to Christopher Columbus High School, a private Catholic school to the west of Miami.

While speaking to CNN, Mendoza’s high school coach, Dave Dunn, said how he plays the game, shows how much he still “reveres his high school career.”

To add to the Miami flair, Mendoza, who is of Cuban descent, spoke to CNN about how he got his work ethic from his family.

“I got my work ethic from my grandparents and my parents. My grandparents were immigrants from Cuba and they came here with nothing,” Mendoza said. “They started from scratch and they’re able to build up a foundation to help support my parents in order to help support myself.”

Indiana is currently rolling Oregon entering the fourth quarter and it is looking inevitable that “HeisMendoza!” is coming home with the chance to win the biggest trophy a team can win in college football.

Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher reacts after a third-quarter stop.

Even when they hold Indiana to a punt, Oregon still has their work cut out for them.

Pinned up against their own end zone, with Hoosier fans roaring, the end zone seems miles away.

Dante Moore let it rip, throwing a beautiful deep ball to Jeremiah McClellan, who came down with it at the Ducks’ 47-yard line. A great catch on a great throw, and it got Oregon out of the shadow of their own goal posts.

After the disappointing T-shirt toss, the Ducks faced a fourth-and-1 from Indiana’s 37-yard line and decided to go for it. A pitch to Harris went wide and the erstwhile running back was stopped short of the line to gain.

Turnover on downs, Indiana ball. Dan Lanning and company seemed to have made some changes at halftime that helped his offense get going but this Indiana defensive unit is just tough.

And that’s how the third quarter ends. Fifteen minutes stand between Indiana and a trip to the natty.

After a rousing rendition of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” between quarters, Indiana isn’t able to pick up a first down and is forced to punt.

Score: Indiana 42, Oregon 15

After a break in play, one of the most futile enterprises known to man took place.

A T-shirt toss. In a football stadium.

The Chick-fil-A cows did their best to fire up the crowd with the promise of free clothing, but there are 70,000-plus people here. The T-shirt cannons went roughly a third of the distance that Dante Moore’s last big pass traveled.

It was quickly abandoned. The tens of thousands of fans who had no chance at getting a T-shirt didn’t seem disappointed.

Indiana fans have had a lot to cheer for in the Peach Bowl tonight.

Of course the punted ball bounced backward and not into the end zone but pinned Oregon at their own five yard line. Because this is how this game is going.

Even when Oregon finally gets a stop, they can’t catch all the breaks.

The Hoosiers appeared to be on yet another scoring drive after Kaelon Black dashed 62 yards up the gut of the Ducks’ defense, finally chased down by Jadon Canady. Instead a holding call on Bray Lynch negated the run - poor Canady collapsed on the field in complete exhaustion, as if he couldn’t believe the entire thing didn’t count.

Mendoza converted one third down after that but couldn’t connect with Omar Cooper on third-and-3.

The quarterback stayed on the field, eyeing the sideline as if he wanted Curt Cignetti to go for it – at the 46 yard line.

Instead Cignetti sent the punt team out, but even that went the Hoosiers way.

Score: Indiana 42, Oregon 15

Oregon's Dierre Hill Jr. breaks a big run in the third quarter.

Before Indiana kicked the ball back to Oregon, the public address system here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium played “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz over the sound system.

What the Oregon Ducks would give to have wings to do just that right now.

Dante Moore lines up under center and pitches the ball to Dierre Hill Jr. and, for the first time all game, the Indiana defense is nowhere to be found.

Hill breaks free down the left sideline, breaks a couple tackles and – with the help of a block from a teammate that could have easily been flagged for a block in the back – breaks free to the Indiana four-yard line for a 71-yard gain.

Two plays later, Jay Harris rushes the ball over the goal line and Oregon finally answers an Indiana touchdown with one of their own.

For some reason, the Ducks go for a two-point conversion, and they get it with Moore throwing an over-the-shoulder ball to Jamari Johnson for the added score.

Any points help at this juncture. The Ducks will need to slow down the IU offense to give themselves a chance, but something to feel good about on that drive.

Score: Indiana 42, Oregon 15

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza fumbles on a run in the third quarter. But the ball was recovered by teammate Pat Coogan.

It seemed almost cruel to let Indiana start the second half with the ball. Like really mean.

Because, of course, the Hoosiers scored.

Why not let the offensive line get into it, too? Just when it looked like Fernando Mendoza had actually made a mistake, his lineman MVP Pat Coogan was there to cover it up. On third down, Mendoza scrambled for a first down and rather just sliding, het got greedy and spun for extra yardage. Oregon’s Jadon Canady poked the ball away and it bounced on the turf.

And there was Coogan, the Rose Bowl MVP, to smother it and keep the drive going.

Two plays later, Mendoza easily found E.J. Williams for another touchdown.

If you’re keeping score at home, Williams is the fourth different receiver to catch a TD against the Ducks.

And there’s still a lot of football left to be played.

Score: Indiana 42, Oregon 7

The championship game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The combination of Miami playing at home and a potentially historic appearance by Indiana has made the secondary market for the College Football Playoff national title game catch fire.

Our CNN colleague Andy Scholes, sitting down the row in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium press box, just checked Stubhub to see what the lowest-priced ticket is for January 19’s title game in Miami Gardens.

The cheapest ticket, high up in Section 336, will run $3,537 including fees.

Any Hoosier fans hoping to see their team play the Canes later on this month better have deep pockets.

The Ducks can’t be happy to be giving the ball first to Indiana, but they don’t have much of a choice.

The Hoosiers get the ball on the 25-yard line after a touchback and this game is back underway.

Score: Indiana 35, Oregon 7

Indiana's Mikail Kamara, right, and Mario Landino chase down a Dante Moore fumble deep in Oregon territory.

Usually in a game with this kind of scoreline, you see a glaring obvious point that explains it all in the stat line.

In this game, total yards aren’t a huge discrepancy. Indiana is outrushing Oregon but that’s not it. Time of possession is about equal. Both teams are doing well on third down and have run close to equal numbers of plays.

The stat that explains everything: Turnovers.

The Ducks’ three turnovers, starting with the very first play that resulted in a pick-6 and set Indiana’s fans into exultation, have been absolute backbreakers. That interception was worth a touchdown, the fumble from Dante Moore that was caused by hitting his running back while attempting a pass might as well have been worth another after IU got the ball on the Ducks’ 3-yard line. It only took a few plays for the Hoosiers to punch it in.

The third turnover might be the one that this game ends up hinging on. Facing a do-or-die drive, the Ducks needed to answer Indiana’s onslaught with some points. Instead, Moore was sacked again and the ball was stripped and recovered by the Hoosiers in the red zone.

Crazier things have happened in football – the host city of this game will tell you to never count your football championships before they hatch – but it’s going to take something incredibly special from Oregon, and something incredibly catastrophic from Indiana, to get the Ducks back into this one.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza celebrates a second-quarter touchdown.

Maybe we should have seen this coming after how Indiana treated Alabama at the Rose Bowl.

But it’s still stunning.

Indiana heads to the locker room at halftime up 35-7 over Oregon, looking unstoppable on offense and overpowering on defense. The Hoosiers have forced three turnovers, all of which led to touchdowns. Fernando Mendoza has one incompletion. His wide receivers are making circus catches. It’s all a recipe for Hoosier heaven and Duck depression.

The Ducks did move the ball down the field for a chance to kick a consolation field goal as time expired, but Atticus Sappington didn’t come close to putting the 56-yard kick through the uprights.

The Hoosiers run off the field to a jubilant fan base twirling white towels and are 30 minutes away from taking on Miami for the national title on January 19.

Halftime score: Indiana 35, Oregon 7

No one will be happier to get to the locker room for halftime than Oregon. That might be the only way the Ducks can stop Indiana.

Another short field gift, another score for the Hoosiers. This time Indiana needed six plays to find the end zone, with Fernando Mendoza connecting with Elijah Sarratt for the score, zipping a perfect pass to the left flat.

Mendoza has one incompletion this half and has found six different receivers, but the Ducks are just making it too easy. A short field plus this offense is nearly a guaranteed six points.

Score: Indiana 35, Oregon 7