For QB Julian Sayin, Week 11 of college football was meant to be another step toward the Heisman Trophy. And he did everything a Heisman favorite is supposed to do and led his team to victory. But as he celebrated another flawless performance in West Lafayette, events unfolding 537 miles away in College Station rewrote the Heisman script.

Facing Purdue, Sayin turned in yet another near-perfect showing, completing 20 of 23 passes for 316 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Numbers that would normally lock up his spot atop the odds. Yet somehow, he woke up the next morning trailing Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. The latest odds show Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza overtaking him after a clutch performance against PSU in the final moments of their game.

Mike Rodak shared the refreshed odds in a post on X with the caption “Fernando Mendoza now the Heisman favorite again on FanDuel after a game-winning drive at Penn State.” The shift in odds occurred due to Mendoza’s incredible pass to WR Omar Cooper Jr., who scored a game-winning touchdown with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The clutch moment ensured that Indiana would stay undefeated with a 10-0 record, after almost losing the game to interim head coach Terry Smith’s Penn State. The play has gone viral on social media due to the timing and the way Indiana clawed back into the game to win it. Unfortunately for Julian Sayin, in the court of public perception, heroics trumped numbers.

Sayin’s surgical outing against Penn State weeks ago barely moved the needle, while Mendoza’s single “Heisman moment” against the same opponent flipped the odds entirely. Fernando Mendoza completed 19 of 30 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown against Penn State. When comparing Sayin and Mendoza’s Week 11 numbers, Sayin clearly comes out on top from a statistical standpoint. Mendoza’s completion rate stood at 63.3%, while Sayin’s was an impressive 87%. If not for Mendoza’s game-winning touchdown, Sayin likely would have remained in the lead for the Heisman.

Cignetti and the Hoosiers witness a moment for the ages

Week 11 couldn’t have gone better for Fernando Mendoza. Not only did he contribute significantly to Indiana retaining its undefeated record, but he also ended up topping the Heisman odds list. But this could have gone the other way very quickly. Indiana came to the West Shore Home as 14.5-point favorites. However, Mendoza and HC Curt Cignetti did not expect the Nittany Lions to put on such a stern performance.

Penn State took the Hoosiers into the deep trenches of the game, making the fourth quarter as close as it could be between these two sides. With six minutes to go in the game, RB Nick Singleton scored a TD, which put PSU in the lead. That put pressure on Indiana, which was on the verge of losing the game. With just 36 seconds left in the game, Mendoza played the game-winning throw to Cooper Jr., winning the game.

The moment left Curt Cignetti emotional, who said, “I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my days, I’ve never seen anything quite like this.” aptly capturing what even Indiana fans felt. While his numbers don’t quite justify his place in the Heisman rankings, the moment itself is destined to become iconic.