Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza just gave his Rose Bowl opponent, Alabama, the ultimate compliment: he stole their plays. While praising his future opponent, the future first-rounder revealed Indiana borrowed some concepts directly from Alabama’s playbook for the Rose Bowl.

“Ty Simpson is an amazing player,” Mendoza said. “I watched the entire 2022 Elite 11 class, and not only was he a great quarterback, he also seemed like he was a great guy.”

He emphasized how good Simpson is both on and off the field. Mendoza truly believes Ty Simpson is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, no question about it, and he also gave praise to Simpson’s pocket accuracy.

Mendoza didn’t shy away from admitting that he and his team actually studied Alabama’s game against Wisconsin:

“I have nothing to say. I think I’ve actually, like, from that (Wisconsin) game, admired a lot from his game. We’ve taken a couple of plays from that game against Wisconsin in game planning. I’ve taken a couple of things into my own game,” blurted Mendoza.

In college football, coaches frequently borrow successful plays and strategies from other teams. Both Indiana and Alabama played the Badgers this season, giving them a shared opponent to analyze. Simpson put up one of his best performances of his career against the Badgers: he completed 24 of 29 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns.

Mind you, “copying plays” is more about learning and strategy than actual copying. It’s a smart coaching move, where teams study their opponents’ effective strategies to improve their own game.

Interestingly, Mendoza himself had a fantastic game against Wisconsin as well. He was incredibly efficient, completing 22 of 24 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns, leading Indiana to a big win. Safe to say, both QBs balled out.

The respect is mutual. While Simpson hasn’t been studying Mendoza as intensely, he still gave the Indiana QB props for winning the Heisman and being tough and smart. Bama’s defensive coordinator also backed Mendoza’s Heisman case.

All this respect just makes the Rose Bowl matchup even more exciting. It’s a sweet story of the best learning from the best. In fact, he’s he’s embracing the challenge.

Pressure is a privilege for Fernando Mendoza

Fernando Mendoza made it pretty clear that he’s fully ready to take on the challenge Alabama brings to the New Year’s Rose Bowl. The Crimson Tide has a solid track record in the Rose Bowl. They are literally 6-2 in this particular bowl. Luckily, instead of being scared by it, he sees it as an honor.

“Pressure is a privilege. It’s not like we’re here to go defend something,” Mendoza said. “We don’t have the Rose Bowl trophy yet. We don’t have roses in our mouths and we gotta go get it.”

He also talked about how special the moment is, saying this is something they’ve worked their entire lives for and something they’ll remember forever, especially going up against “an SEC juggernaut” like Alabama.

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Indiana’s historic season backs up that confidence. The Hoosiers went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 1945 and finished ranked No. 1 in the final AP regular-season poll for the first time.

A lot of that success stems from head coach Curt Cignetti setting the tone and Mendoza stepping up when it mattered, even after making mistakes earlier in the game. Together, they helped turn Indiana into a team that believes it belongs on the biggest stage.