Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel doesn’t appear to be all that impressed by this year’s top candidate for the honor.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza hit Charlie Becker for a 33-yard completion inside the final minutes of the Hoosiers’ 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship. While it was a massive play, Manziel pushed back on the notion it was a “Heisman moment”:
In the pantheon of legendary plays that helped wrap up a Heisman, Mendoza’s long completion won’t rank high on the list. It was a pretty straight forward throw and catch.
Manziel, by comparison, had some individual moments of brilliance that left no doubt as to his position in the Heisman race.
Johnny Football’s remark comes off as a little unfairly dismissive, though, when it ignores the stakes of Becker’s reception.
Mendoza trusted himself to make a deep throw on third down inside his own territory, and he put the ball exactly where it needed to be. If that pass falls incomplete, then Indiana is punting from its own 24-yard line. Ohio State would’ve been in a great spot to get the game-tying field goal or a go-ahead touchdown.
The Hoosiers punted later in the drive but left Ohio State just 18 seconds on the clock when it did.
Mendoza’s late heroics basically sealed Indiana’s first outright Big Ten title since 1945 along with the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. That’s enough to fit the bill as a “Heisman moment.”
