There is nothing more legacy-making in sports than to deliver in the biggest moments on the biggest stage.
And for our final installment of “Game Balls” this college football season, honoring and spotlighting the best individual performances each week and throughout the postseason across the sport, we have five left to present.
These were the five best individual performances from the 27-21 win for Indiana over Miami in the national championship game Monday night.
While it was very hard all season to crack the list if not on the winning side, we had to represent the Hurricanes here as well after an enthralling finale that fittingly went down to the wire.
5 Best Individual Performances From National Championship Game
As always, we go in alphabetical order …
Indiana WR Charlie Becker
The raw stats don’t tell the story as Becker finished the game with 4 catches for 65 yards, but the context cements his deserved place on this list.
Three of Becker’s four catches directly extended and/or setup three of Indiana’s four offensive scoring possessions, including both touchdown drives.
– His 15-yard reception down to the Miami 5-yard line in the second quarter set up the Hoosiers’ first touchdown, after Becker nearly scored himself on an incredible effort before replay ruled he’d narrowly stepped out of bounds at the 5.
– His 19-yard catch on fourth-and-5 in the fourth quarter took Indiana to the Hurricanes’ 18 on the way to their other offensive touchdown. It was a clutch adjustment by Becker to turn back for the slightly-off-target back-shoulder pass. Indiana was up by just 3 points at the time, but that drive-extending catch made possible QB Fernando Mendoza’s eventual 12-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead.
– And his 19-yard reception on third-and-7 near midfield late in the fourth quarter set up the final field goal that pushed the lead to 6 and made Miami have to drive the length of the field on its final possession if it was going to comeback. This might have been the most impressive catch of all.
Watch all three here:
The impressive sophomore emerged late in the season when veteran star WR Elijah Sarratt had to miss a month due to injury. Once Becker got his chance, he became a fixture in the Hoosiers’ passing attack even when Sarratt returned as one of Mendoza’s most reliable downfield targets.
Over the final seven games, Becker had 27 catches for 522 yards and 3 TDs, including 6 receptions for 126 yards in the Big Ten championship game win over Ohio State, touchdowns in the first two playoff games and then those three pivotal plays Monday night.
Indiana EDGE Mikail Kamara
There were three obvious candidates for play of the game in Indiana’s national title win, and all three will be represented here. The next one on the list is the one that everyone will remember most, but Kamara’s blocked punt that Indiana recovered in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter was arguably the one that truly swung this game to the Hoosiers.
Both offenses were struggling to put together sustained drives as Indiana clung to a 10-7 lead as it forced Miami to punt from deep in its own territory. The Hoosiers didn’t call for an aggressive punt block play and were focused on setting up the punt return, but Kamara had seen an opening on a previous Hurricanes punt and decided to go for it.
He made Miami tight end Alex Bauman whiff in protection and left punter Dylan Joyce no room to get his punt off, batting it down into the end zone where Indiana teammate Isaiah Jones fell on it for the touchdown and a 17-7 lead.
“I was like, if I get this opportunity again I’m going to take it,” Kamara said. “Dominique Ratcliff, right before the snap, he’s like, ‘Hey, go get this thing.’ I was like, ‘Alright, bet. I got you.’ I got a good jump off the ball, and I just see the punter walking into my face — put my hand up, double thud.’”
Kamara was one of 13 transfers to follow coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison two years ago and one of seven left on this national title team. He was one of the more unsung heroes of this Hoosiers run the last two season, leading the FBS in pressures last season with 68, per PFF, and led the Big Ten again with 58 this season. (References to those PFF numbers vary slightly by source, even between PFF’s own posts/tweets, but the point stands).
“To be able to do something this crazy, like this is something like you write a book about or you write a movie about,” Kamara said. “So to do this in real life and do this with all these guys I love, it’s amazing.”
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
Like we’re not going to put Mendoza on the list even if it was a relatively quiet passing performance for the Heisman Trophy winner?
This iconic moment is all that anyone will remember when talking about how the Miami native who couldn’t even get a walk-on spot with the hometown Hurricanes led Indiana to the national championship against the school he grew up rooting for, in their home stadium no less.
Fourth-and-4 from the Miami 12 and nothing was going to stop Mendoza on the way into the end zone.
That gave Indiana a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter, effectively standing as the decisive touchdown.
And it immediately became the most enduring image of this entire college football season and one of the greatest national championship moments in recent memory.
So let’s enjoy it further from another angle!
And how about this as an extra layer to it?
Last season, while playing for Cal and nearly leading an upset over Miami that ultimately fell short, Mendoza got absolutely leveled by Hurricanes linebacker Wesley Bissainthe. So it was quite fitting that it was Bissainthe again who hit Mendoza like a dump truck on that play, only for the QB to shake it off, spin free and soar into the end zone.
“He’s so tough. I mean, he got hit, he had no time, he keeps getting back up. Just a great competitor. There’s no way this gets done without that kind of performance at that position,” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said.
Mendoza completed 16 of 27 passes for 186 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs, finishing his three College Football Playoff games 47 of 63 (74.6%) for 555 yards, 8 TDs and 0 INTs.
Mendoza finished his Heisman season completing 72% of his passes for 3,535 yards, 41 TDs and 6 INTs and 276 yards and 7 TDs.
Indiana CB Jamari Sharpe
This is the definition of delivering in the biggest moments on the biggest stage.
Sharpe’s interception of Miami QB Carson Beck in the final minute ended the game after the Hurricanes had crossed midfield with every chance to still complete a dramatic comeback.
But it gets even better. Like Mendoza, Sharpe is also from Miami and grew up wanting to play for the Hurricanes but wasn’t offered by his hometown school.
“That moment right there was just the best moment in my life. Catching the game-winning pick in my hometown to win the national championship, it can’t get better. The best feeling ever,” Sharpe said.
You really can’t make this up …
“This game meant a lot to me, you know?” Sharpe said in another postgame interview. “Growing up, I ain’t gonna lie, I always wanted to be a Miami Hurricane. I always wanted to play in the Dolphins’ stadium, as you can see. And you know, they didn’t recruit me, so I just took that, I just took that, brung it on the field, brought that anger on the field to make a good play to seal the deal for my team.”
Per PFF, Sharpe allowed just 2 receptions in coverage with that pick and a pass breakup while earning an 84.0 coverage grade for the game. Sharpe also finished second on the Hoosiers with 6 tackles.
But it gets even wilder.
Sharpe is the nephew of former Hurricanes defensive back Glenn Sharpe, who was called for a pivotal pass interference penalty in Miami’s 31-24 double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the 2003 BCS National Championship Game (concluding the 2002 season). Sharpe was flagged for the penalty on fourth-and-3 from the Miami 5 as Craig Krenzel tried to connect with Chris Gamble in the end zone. Instead of the game ending and Miami celebrating a second straight national title, Ohio State scored three plays later to tie it and won in double-overtime.
Miami WR Malachi Toney and RB Mark Fletcher Jr.
We’re going to let the Hurricanes’ two offensive stars share the final Game Ball.
Both did everything to give Miami a chance Monday night.
Toney, the freshman phenom, had a game-high 10 receptions for 122 yards and a TD. That included a 41-yard catch-and-run reception followed two-plays later by a forward pitch taken 21 yards for a touchdown that cut Miami’s deficit to 24-21 in the fourth quarter.
And Fletcher continued his phenomenal playoff run with 17 carries for 112 yards and 2 TDs (plus 8 receiving yards. His first touchdown was a 57-yard run and much-needed breakthrough early in the third quarter for the Hurricanes’ first points while his second came from 3 yards out early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 17-14.
Fletcher rushed for 507 yards and totaled 3 rushing/receiving TDs in his four playoff games after rushing for 685 yards over 10 regular-season games.
