ATLANTA — Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza has burned teams throughout the College Football Playoff with his scrambling ability. 

Mendoza was lights out through the air in a 56-22 win over Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Friday night, but he made a handful of plays with his legs again starting with a 21-yard gain early in the second quarter that helped the No. 1 Hoosiers (15-0) flip the field. 

Mendoza’s sneaky athleticism has put pressure on defenses already struggling to contain IU’s impressive arsenal of skill players, but there came a time in the CFP semifinals where the coaching staff asked him to put that scrambling ability in his back pocket and keep it there.

“Coach (Chandler) Whitmer was in his ear about getting down as quickly as possible,” Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan told The Herald-Times. 

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The Heisman winner had the large contingent of IU fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium holding their breath while he was weaving through defenders and taking hits with his team up by four possessions coming out of halftime. 

Mendoza lost the ball in the third quarter while getting tripped up from behind on a run up the middle after busting out a spin move on the play to gain extra yards. 

While the coaching staff appreciates Mendoza’s competitiveness, they didn’t want him putting himself at risk with the team less than two quarters away from playing in the national title game. 

“We were very conscious (of the situation),” Shanahan said after the game. 

Mendoza had one more carry after that off an RPO near the goal line right after IU blocked a punt. It was a play call that Shanahan immediately regretted with Oregon loading up the box. 

“That wasn’t the best position to put him in,” he said. 

Mendoza closed out the game for the Hoosiers under center by simply handing the ball off while the Hoosiers put the finishing touches on another lopsided win. He threw for 177 yards (17 of 20) and finished the game with more passing touchdowns (five) than incompletions (three) for the sixth time this season. 

Oregon’s Dan Lanning had high praise for Mendoza’s overall performance after the game, but he became the latest in a long line of opposing coaches to mention his scrambling ability in the same breath as his arm talent.

“The guy makes the right decisions,” Lanning said. “You consistently see if he sees the right coverage, you know, he takes the ball where it’s supposed to go, dictated by coverage. I think he did a great job again on the scrambles early. I thought we had him boxed up in the third down early in the game, which was critical and was able to scramble for a first down.”

Shanahan underlined Mendoza’s decision-making as well in talking about the growth he’s seen from the quarterback this season and his improvisational skills (and when to use them) are a big part of that.

“He makes my life and my job so much easier,” Shanahan said. “I think he’s playing his best ball right now. I don’t know if that was the confidence he got from winning Heisman or beating Ohio State, I feel like we are on the right path. We got one more to go.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.