Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Davey O'Brien Award

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza has won the 2025 Davey O’Brien Award. The honor goes to the best quarterback in college football during the season.

Three finalists were up for the award, which was announced during Friday’s College Football Awards show on ESPN. Mendoza, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin all waited to hear if their names were called.

Both Mendoza and Sayin are also finalists for the Heisman Trophy, which will be announced Saturday in New York. They were also among the last three players as finalists for the Davey O’Brien Award.

While leading Indiana to a perfect 13-0 record – the last undefeated team standing – and the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, Mendoza shined after transferring from Cal. He led the nation with 33 touchdown passes this year while completing 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards, to just six interceptions.

Mendoza was coming off a career year at Cal, where he shined as the Golden Bears’ quarterback. He completed 68.7% of his passes for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore before transferring to Indiana this year.

In addition, Mendoza finished in the top four of the Heisman voting and earned a Second Team selection on the On3 2025 College Football All-America Team. He’s also generating buzz in NFL Draft circles as a potential top pick.In ESPN’s Field Yates’ initial mock draft earlier this week, Mendoza came in as the projected No. 1 overall pick via a mock trade to the New York Jets. He has an opportunity to continue his impressive story as Indiana starts the College Football Playoff in the quarterfinals after securing a bye.

Fernando Mendoza is the first Indiana quarterback to win the Davey O’Brien Award and joins a historic group of quarterbacks to become the top player at the position. Miami’s Cam Ward brought it home last year before becoming the No. 1 pick in the draft, and LSU’s Jayden Daniels won the honor in 2023.

“The purpose of the Davey O’Brien Foundation is to recognize outstanding student-athletes for their achievements both on and off the field through the Foundation’s various awards programs, led by the annual National Quarterback Award,” the Davey O’Brien Award website reads.

“Since 1977, the Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.”