After delivering Heisman moment, Indiana's Fernando Mendoza is best bet for award - ESPN

Fernando Mendoza had his Heisman moment against a now 3-6 team. It's still a Heisman moment.

The Indiana Hoosiers QB is now the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, and unless something dramatic happens in the final two weeks, the race is tilting firmly in his direction. Saturday's win over the Penn State Nittany Lions did not just keep Indiana undefeated. It delivered the one thing Heisman voters latch onto: a moment. The kind they replay when ballots are in hand and the highlight loop runs on repeat.

Indiana wasn't dominant and often looked flat, trailing late in the fourth quarter, but the Hoosiers were also without Elijah Sarratt, their second-leading receiver and most reliable red zone threat.

Watch college football and much more in the newly enhanced ESPN App. Stream the biggest games

They faced a desperate Penn State team playing with nothing to lose. Yet with 1:51 remaining, down 24 to 20, Mendoza jogged onto the field needing an 80-yard drive with a season's worth of pressure on his shoulders and delivered.

The final box score shows a pedestrian passing line with only 19 completions for 218 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Nothing gaudy but the Heisman is rarely won by raw numbers. With the résumé, you have games won by context, poise, command and timing. Mendoza delivered all of that in real time.

Let's be honest about the moment… it began ugly. The first play was a sack for a loss of 7 yards. The clock rolled, the crowd exploded, and Indiana's players felt the weight of an undefeated run slipping through their fingers. Those are the exact spots where quarterbacks panic. Instead, Mendoza reset and answered with a 22-yard strike, a 12-yarder, then a 29-yarder, and then a 17-yarder. Mendoza marched the