Fernando Mendoza beats Diego Pavia in 2025 Heisman predictions
After a historic season for Indiana, reporters predict Fernando Mendoza will win the 2025 Heisman Trophy over Diego Pavia.
College football’s oldest individual honor was bestowed on its newest recipient this weekend.
And the person who put it up also made a bit of history.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has won the 2025 Heisman Trophy, announced Saturday, Dec. 13, at the conclusion of a ceremony held in the Appellate Room at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Watch the Heisman Trophy Ceremony Live with Fubo (Free Trial)
Mendoza won the honor over fellow Heisman finalists Vanderbilt University quarterback Diego Pavia, Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love and Ohio State University quarterback Julian Sain.
Mendoza becomes the first Indiana player to win the Heisman.
Pavia took second place with 1,435 points to Mendoza’s 2,392 points, while Love and Sane took third and fourth respectively.
All four finalists were from teams that won at least 10 games this season. With Mendoza’s win, quarterbacks now have 13 of the past 16 Heisman winners. Love is the latest running back since Derrick Henry in 2015 to have a ball carrier fail to win the award.
USA TODAY Sports provided live updates from the Heisman Trophy ceremony. The main points are:
This section will be updated during the show.
Here are some highlights of Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman acceptance speech. That includes recognizing his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and giving a speech in Spanish to his grandparents (Mendoza is of Cuban descent and grew up in Miami).
Fernando Mendoza ranks first in Heisman Trophy voting, followed by Diego Pavia, Jeremiah Love and Julian Sane. Here is the complete result:
- Fernando Mendoza:2,392 points (1st place 643 points)
- Diego Pavia:1,435 (189)
- jeremiah love:719(46)
- Julian Sane:432(8)
- jacob rodriguez:295(17)
- jeremiah smith:84(4)
- gunner stockton:43(3)
- trinidad chambliss:23(2)
- caleb downs:22(2)
- haynes king:18(2)
The Heisman Trophy will go to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. In his first year with the Hoosiers from California, Mendoza threw for 2,980 yards, an FBS-leading 33 touchdowns, and six interceptions for Indiana, the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.
He is Indiana’s first Heisman winner.
A great quarterback is nothing without a great offensive line. Diego Pavia knows that too, as he accompanied Vanderbilt’s offensive line to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
The Heisman ceremony lasts an hour, and awards are typically presented with about 10 to 15 minutes left in the program.
Here’s what Ohio State quarterback Julian Sane is wearing to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
This is what Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love wore to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Here’s what Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia wears to the Heisman Trophy ceremony (the guy looks like he wore the suit to appear on the cover of Death Row Records magazine in the 1990s):
Here’s what Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is wearing to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
According to BetMGM, the Heisman Trophy odds are as follows, with Fernando Mendoza standing as the favorite heading into the ceremony.
- Fernando Mendoza, -1200
- Diego Pavia, +700
- Jeremiah Love, +15000
- Julian Sane, +50000
The University of Southern California has the most Heisman Trophy winners of any university, with eight. Caleb Williams in 2022 gave the Trojans their newest Heisman receiver. Williams became the fourth USC player to win the Heisman since 2002.
If Jeremiah Love or Julian Sain win the award, Notre Dame or Ohio State could tie the Trojans tonight.
The top five schools with the most Heisman winners are:
- 1.USC, 8
- T-2. ohio state university, 7
- T-2. Notre Dame Cathedral, 7
- T-2. Oklahoma State, 7
- 5. Alabama, 4
There are four finalists for the Heisman Trophy.
- Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
- Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia
- Notre Dame RB Jeremiah Love
- Ohio State QB Julian Sain
These four received the most votes for the award, but the winner will not be announced until tonight. The remaining top 10 are as follows.
- 5. Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez
- 6. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
- 7. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton
- 8. Mississippi State QB Trinidad Chambliss
- 9. Caleb Downs, Ohio State University
- 10. Georgia Tech QB Haynes King
What time does the Heisman Trophy award ceremony start?
- date: Saturday, December 13th
- time: 7pm ET
- where: Jazz in the Appellate Room of Lincoln Center (New York City)
The Heisman Trophy ceremony is scheduled to begin on Saturday, December 13th at 7:00 PM ET in the Appellate Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
What TV channel will today’s Heisman Trophy Award Ceremony be on?
The Heisman Trophy ceremony will be broadcast on ABC. Streaming options for games include Fubo, which carries ABC and offers free trials to new subscribers.
Heisman Trophy predictions
Craig Mayer, USA TODAY Sports: Fernando Mendoza
No player in this country is more important to the team than Diego Pavia, but Mendoza is putting up impressive and effective numbers while being the quarterback of the No. 1 team in the country, and will likely come out on top in what should be a close race.
