Fernando Mendoza Heisman odds (Updated): Exploring Indiana QB's chances to win coveted honor after Penn State takedown

Fernando Mendoza put out another noteworthy performance on Saturday when Indiana played against Penn State. The Hoosiers entered the game with the aim of keeping their season’s undefeated record intact and the quarterback made sure of that with a 27-24 victory.

The Week 10 performance at the Beaver Stadium immediately improved Mendoza's chances of claiming the Heisman Trophy in December. The Cal transfer completed 19 of 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came in the final minute of the game, sealing the win for the Hoosiers.

Fernando Mendoza entered the game with +250 odds to win the Heisman Trophy, behind only Ohio State's Julian Sayin. He improved to +220 odds after the heroic win against the Nittany Lions, but he remains behind Sayin and ahead of Alabama's Ty Simpson in the race.

The battle for the 2025 Heisman Trophy appears to have narrowed down to a three-man race, with Mendoza, Sayin and Simpson laying claims on the coveted award. The quest among the three contenders to be the successor to Travis Hunter is bound to go down to the final week of the regular season.

The impressive performance from Julian Sayin in the 34-3 win against Purdue is expected to continue to give him the slight edge in the race this week. However, an outstanding performance from Ty Simpson against LSU later tonight could bring a drastic shake-up to the race.

Scouts vote Fernando Mendoza as QB1 for the 2026 NFL draft on ESPN Poll

In a fresh ESPN poll of 25 NFL scouts and executives on who will be the first quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, the results have shifted dramatically from those gathered just six weeks earlier. Fernando Mendoza is now the favorite to be the first off the board.

Mendoza got 13 votes to be the QB1 for the upcoming draft, placing him ahead of Oregon's Dante Moore, who got six votes and Ty Simpson, who got three. It's worth noting that none of the three quarterbacks got a vote when the poll was first conducted.

The other three quarterbacks who received a vote are Oklahoma’s John Mateer, Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers. Mateer and Sellers were voted in the last session of the poll in September.

With his outstanding performance this season, Fernando Mendoza has edged out notable names like LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Miami's Carson Beck and Penn State’s Drew Allar, who were among the voted candidates in the poll in September.

Edited by Farouk Yusuf