ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 With two rushing touchdowns, five passing touchdowns, three forced turnovers and a blocked kick, No. 1 Indiana\u2019s domination of No. 5 Oregon was balanced and impressive.<\/p>\n
The Hoosiers showed why they entered the College Football Playoff as the favorite to win the national championship.<\/p>\n
Undefeated Indiana\u2019s already impressive march through the CFP gained momentum as its dominant defense created three first-half touchdowns with turnovers, Fernando Mendoza threw five scoring passes and the Hoosiers overwhelmed Oregon<\/a> 56-22 in the Peach Bowl semifinal on Friday night.<\/p>\n Indiana (15-0, No. 1 CFP) will face No. 10 Miami on Jan. 19 in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami beat Mississippi 31-27<\/a> in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Indiana will try to give the Big Ten its third straight national title, following Ohio State and Michigan the last two seasons. Few teams from any conference can compare with the Hoosiers\u2019 season-long demonstration of balanced strong play.<\/p>\n Led by Mendoza and the defense, Indiana is making a case to be considered among the top teams in history.<\/p>\n Though Miami will be home for the national championship game, Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner and Miami native, will enjoy a homecoming<\/a> following an almost perfect game against Oregon. Mendoza completed 17 of 20 passes and the five touchdowns, including two to Elijah Sarratt and a 36-yarder<\/a> to Charlie Becker.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he was incredible,\u201d Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said of Mendoza. \u201cHe was great. I also thought our receivers made some great contested catches. He was on top of the game and his performance was a huge difference in this football game.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Mendoza \u201cmakes the right decisions. If he sees the coverage, he takes the ball where it needs to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaelon Black ran for two touchdowns to lead the Indiana running game.<\/p>\n Oregon (13-2, No. 5 CFP) was doomed by the three first-half turnovers while also being short-handed by the absence of two of their top running backs.<\/p>\n The Hoosiers led 35-7 at halftime as the Ducks were held to nine rushing yards on 17 carries. Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out<\/a> with a collarbone injury.<\/p>\n Backup running backs, including Jay Harris and Dierre Hill Jr, provided too little help for quarterback Dante Moore. Moore\u2019s task against Indiana\u2019s stifling defense would have been daunting even with all his weapons.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s defense didn\u2019t wait long to make an impact. On Oregon\u2019s first snap, cornerback D\u2019Angelo Ponds intercepted Moore\u2019s pass intended for Malik Benson and returned the pick 25 yards for a touchdown. Only 11 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers and their defense already had made a statement this would be a long night for Moore and the Oregon offense.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all started with Ponds\u2019 pick-6,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cWe created some turnovers on defense and capitalized on offense and that was the story of the first half.\u201d<\/p>\n Moore\u2019s 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Jamari Johnson tied the game. The remainder of the half belonged to Indiana and its big-play defense.<\/p>\n After Mendoza\u2019s 8-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 14-7, Indiana\u2019s defense forced a turnover when Moore fumbled and Indiana recovered at the Oregon 3, setting up Black\u2019s scoring run.<\/p>\n Moore lost a second fumble later in the second quarter when hit by Daniel Ndukwe<\/a> and Mario Landino recovered at the Oregon 21. Mendoza\u2019s first scoring pass to Sarratt gave the Hoosiers\u2019 the 35-7 lead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quarterback has to protect the football,\u201d Moore said. \u201cOregon has a great defense and does a great job of disguising looks but the quarterback has to protect the football.\u201d<\/p>\n Indiana extended its lead to 42-7 on Mendoza\u2019s 13-yard scoring pass to E.J. Williams Jr. <\/p>\n Oregon finally answered. A 70-yard run by Hill set up a 2-yard scoring run by Harris.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s special teams added a big play in the fourth quarter when Ndukwe\u2019s blocked punt set up Mendoza\u2019s second scoring pass to Sarratt.<\/p>\n Following their undefeated regular season, the Hoosiers have only gained momentum in the CFP. Indiana overwhelmed Alabama 38-3<\/a> in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal as Mendoza passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n Honorary captains<\/p>\n Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber was an honorary captain for Indiana and watched the game from the Hoosiers\u2019 sideline. Former Oregon and Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart was the Ducks\u2019 honorary captain.<\/p>\n Season sweep<\/p>\n Indiana completed a sweep of two games against Oregon this season. Defense played a lead role in each win. The Hoosiers took a 30-20 win<\/a> at Oregon on Oct. 11 when Moore threw two interceptions and was sacked six times.<\/p>\n Indiana also dominates the stands<\/p>\n The game was a sellout and the red-clad Indiana fans were almost as dominant as the Hoosiers on the field. Indiana appeared to claim at least 80% of the 75,604 fans. <\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was just the red sea but it was Indiana fans,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n Added Cignetti: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like having a home semifinal game.\u201d<\/p>\n Moore has no decision on returning<\/p>\n Moore said he has not decided if he will return for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew that question was coming,\u201d Moore said. \u201c… At the end of the day I don\u2019t know my decision yet. I\u2019m going to talk to coach Lanning and talk to my family and everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a>. AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 With two rushing touchdowns, five passing touchdowns, three forced turnovers and a blocked kick, No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[57398,111,143,53637,10710,57412,49117,57397,11450,1882,28,57,9938,477,1853,28625,3156,6795,53634,57414,57402,57411,57399,48424,30587,57395,123,125,5079,7118,124,16495,57400,57413,14593,14591,6762,53635,57410,110,1110],"class_list":{"0":"post-112837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-charlie-becker","9":"tag-college-sports","10":"tag-college-football","11":"tag-curt-cignetti","12":"tag-dan-lanning","13":"tag-daniel-ndukwe","14":"tag-dante-moore","15":"tag-elijah-sarratt","16":"tag-fernando-mendoza","17":"tag-fl-state-wire","18":"tag-florida","19":"tag-football","20":"tag-ga-state-wire","21":"tag-general-news","22":"tag-georgia","23":"tag-in-state-wire","24":"tag-indiana","25":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","26":"tag-indiana-hoosiers-football","27":"tag-jamari-johnson","28":"tag-jay-harris","29":"tag-jonathan-stewart","30":"tag-jordon-davison","31":"tag-kyle-schwarber","32":"tag-local-news-for-apple","33":"tag-mario-landino","34":"tag-miami","35":"tag-miami-headlines","36":"tag-miami-hurricanes","37":"tag-miami-hurricanes-football","38":"tag-miami-news","39":"tag-mississippi","40":"tag-noah-whittington","41":"tag-omar-cooper-jr","42":"tag-or-state-wire","43":"tag-oregon","44":"tag-oregon-ducks","45":"tag-oregon-ducks-football","46":"tag-peach-bowl-game","47":"tag-sports","48":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}