Fernando Mendoza was named Associated Press player of the year on Thursday after leading unbeaten and top-ranked Indiana to its first Big Ten championship since 1967 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
The redshirt junior quarterback was the overwhelming choice over fellow Heisman Trophy finalists Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame and Julian Sayin of Ohio State. Mendoza received 32 of 51 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who cover college football. Pavia got nine to lead the rest of the group, which also included Jacob Rodriguez of Texas Tech.
Click to Gallery
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs past UCLA defensive lineman Jacob Busic (97) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
FILE - Indiana's Fernando Mendoza celebrates after the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza warms up before an NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Michigan State, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Indiana State, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
FILE - Indiana's Fernando Mendoza throws during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
“I'm shining now but only because there are so many stars around me," Mendoza said, describing his rise from lightly recruited high school prospect in 2021 to a candidate for the sport's most prestigious awards. “There's an analogy that the only reason we're able to see stars in the sky is because the light reflects from all different types of stars. I have so many stars around myself — whether it's my teammates, my coaches, my family, support staff — that I'm able to shine now in this light, and I'm so happy for everyone to be a part of this.”
Mendoza, the Hoosiers' first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that has surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season's surprise run to the CFP.
Mendoza has thrown for a Bowl Subdivision-leading 33 touchdowns and run for six, giving him a school-record 39 TDs accounted for.
He was the first Big Ten quarterback since 2000 with three straight games with at least four TD passes and no interceptions. His 21-of-23, 267-yard, five-touchdown passing day in a 63-10 win at Illinois in the conference opener established him as a serious contender for national honors.
Mendoza is among 10 FBS quarterbacks who have completed better than 70% of their passes. He ranks among the most accurate passers on attempts of at least 20 yards, hitting on 23 of 43 (53.5%), and when under pressure (52.1%), according to Pro Football Focus.
Ranked the No. 72 quarterback prospect by ESPN when he was a senior at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Mendoza was pledged to Yale for almost six months before he decommitted and signed with California.
He sat out as a redshirt in 2022 and won the starting job for the final eight games in 2023. He was 10th in the nation in passing in 2024 and ranked among the top transfer prospects after the season. He landed at Indiana, where his brother Alberto Mendoza was the No. 3 quarterback last year. This year Alberto is the top backup to his big brother.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs past UCLA defensive lineman Jacob Busic (97) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
FILE - Indiana's Fernando Mendoza celebrates after the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza warms up before an NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Michigan State, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Indiana State, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
FILE - Indiana's Fernando Mendoza throws during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
FILE - Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.
Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the U.S. to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
Before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.
Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed U.S. military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”
A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by U.S. strikes are “insignificant.”
Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.
Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.
Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.
Iran state media reported that strikes on the B1 bridge, which was still under construction, killed eight people and wounded 95. The outlet, citing authorities in Alborz province, said the victims had gathered under the bridge and along the riverbank for Nature Day, which Iranians celebrate by gathering outside.
In a post on X that included a picture of what appeared to be the same bridge, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote, “Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray.”
Trump posted footage on social media showing what he said was the collapse of Iran's biggest bridge and threatening, “Much more to follow.” It was not immediately clear if the footage Trump shared was the B1 bridge, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.
In Lebanon — where Israel has launched a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants — Israeli strikes have killed 27 people in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.
Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.
The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.
Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.
No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”
But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.
The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.
Oil prices remained elevated, however, at $111.54 for a barrel of U.S. crude, having soared following Trump’s address. That's up about 50% from Feb. 28.
Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.
Rising from Bangkok and Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this story.
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A family enjoys their time during the annual public picnic day, known as Sizdeh Bedar, an ancient tradition, marking the 13th and last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz, holidays, at Mellat park in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners gather during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People take cover in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
