Caitlin Clark summed up Indiana‘s national championship season in one sentence, calling it the kind of story that belongs on the big screen.
After Indiana‘s 27-21 win over Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday night, the Indiana Fever guard took to social media to congratulate the Hoosiers and their head coach, Curt Cignetti, praising a journey that few could have imagined twelve months earlier.
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“What a story @IndianaFootball give coach cig his movie now!!” Clark wrote. “Congrats!!!!!!!”
The message captured the scale of what Indiana had just achieved. The Hoosiers finished the season 16-0, the most wins in program history, and claimed their first national championship.
Before Cignetti‘s arrival last year, Indiana had never even appeared in the College Football Playoff, making the transformation as dramatic as it was historic.
Clark, one of the most recognisable athletes in the state, was far from alone in her reaction. Across Indiana, the title felt like a shared moment, the culmination of a season that consistently defied expectations and redefined what the programme could be.
A season defined by bold calls and defining plays
Indiana‘s championship run was filled with firsts. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy, a landmark achievement that set the tone for everything that followed.
He delivered again on Monday night, rising to the occasion when the pressure was at its highest.
Unlike earlier postseason games, where Indiana swept aside Alabama and Oregon with relative ease, the final demanded resilience.
Miami‘s defensive front disrupted the Hoosiers‘ rhythm, forcing Mendoza and the offence to grind for yards rather than cruise.
The defining moment arrived late in the fourth quarter. Holding a three-point lead and facing 4th and 5 deep in the red zone, Cignetti kept the offence on the field.
Mendoza took the snap on a quarterback draw, slipped through contact and powered across the goal line for a 12-yard touchdown that ultimately proved decisive. It was a call that embodied Indiana‘s season: fearless, calculated and fully committed.
The defence ensured there would be no late twist. Miami quarterback Carson Beck could not engineer another last-minute comeback, and Jamari Sharpe‘s interception with 44 seconds remaining sealed the outcome.