Fernando Mendoza just etched his name into college football history-and he did it in elite company. By leading the Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship and taking home the Heisman Trophy in the same season, Mendoza becomes only the 10th quarterback to pull off that prestigious double.
The last to do it? Joe Burrow, who lit up the college football world with LSU just a few years ago.
That’s the kind of season Mendoza had-commanding, efficient, and unforgettable. But not everyone’s ready to place him alongside Burrow in the college football pantheon.
During Indiana’s College Football Playoff title game victory over the Miami Hurricanes, NFL star Micah Parsons weighed in on the Mendoza-Burrow comparisons that have been floating around. Parsons, never one to hold back on social media, made his stance pretty clear.
“Indiana might win,” Parsons tweeted during the game, “But ball knowers, I better never hear a comparison to Joe Burrow and that LSU team to this Indiana unit.”
That’s a strong take, especially considering the historical significance of what Mendoza accomplished. Parsons, of course, has a track record of sounding off on quarterbacks-especially Burrow.
Back in December 2024, he was all-in on Burrow for NFL MVP if the Bengals made the playoffs. They didn’t, and the award went to Buffalo’s Josh Allen instead.
And it wasn’t the first time Parsons had voiced mixed feelings about Burrow. In 2022, he stirred things up by saying Burrow wasn’t among the NFL’s top six quarterbacks and added that there were games where “he’s not there.”
So when Parsons draws a hard line between Burrow’s LSU squad and Mendoza’s Indiana team, it’s not just about stats or trophies-it’s about the level of dominance and the eye test. LSU’s 2019 team didn’t just win; they steamrolled.
Burrow threw for over 5,600 yards and 60 touchdowns in a season that felt like a video game come to life. That group was stacked with future NFL stars and played with a swagger that left no doubt.
Mendoza’s Hoosiers, meanwhile, took a different path. They weren’t expected to be here.
But behind Mendoza’s leadership, they found ways to win, knocking off powerhouse programs and showing resilience week after week. His numbers were stellar, but his impact went beyond the box score-he elevated a program that hadn’t sniffed this kind of success in decades.
So while Parsons may not be ready to put Mendoza and Burrow in the same sentence, the history books already have. And for Indiana fans-and college football purists-it’s a season that will be remembered for what it was: special, unexpected, and undeniably historic.