Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza Selected 2025 Walter Camp Player of the Year, presented by Crabtree Lexus of New Haven
Indiana University junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza (Miami, FL) has been selected as the 2025 Walter Camp Player of Year, presented by Crabtree Lexus of New Haven.
The award was announced on ESPN’s College Football Live.
The Walter Camp Player of Year is voted on by the nation’s 136 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports communicators. Other finalists for the 2025 Walter Camp Player of Year include running back Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame), linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech) and quarterbacks Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) and Julian Sayin (Ohio State).
The 59th recipient of the Walter Camp Player of Year award, Mendoza is the second Indiana player to win the prestigious honor, joining the former Hoosier running back Anthony Thompson (1989). Mendoza is also the 24th quarterback to win the award.
Mendoza has led the top-ranked Hoosiers to a 13-0 mark this season. On December 6, he passed for 222 yards and one touchdown as Indiana captured its first-ever Big Ten Championship with a 13-10 victory over Ohio State.
The Hoosiers will await the Oklahoma/Alabama winner in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals on Jan. 1 at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
For the season, Mendoza has thrown for 2,980 yards, completing 71.5 percent (226-of-316) of his passes. He also set a school season record with 33 touchdown passes. He ranks second in the nation with a 181.40 passing efficiency rating.
He has thrown for 200 or more yards in a game nine times this season, including a season-high 332 (24-of-28, 4 touchdowns) in a win over Michigan State on Oct. 18. Mendoza has also rushed for six touchdowns.
Mendoza’s signature moment came in a comeback win at Penn State on Nov. 8, when he led a 77-yard drive culminating with a game-winning seven-yard touchdown strike to Omar Cooper with 35 seconds remaining.
Mendoza was named the Big Ten’s Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year and Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year. He is the first Hoosier to earn the conference’s quarterback of the year honor since its inception in 2011.
Mendoza came to Indiana following two seasons at California, where he threw for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns. A native of Miami, Fla., Mendoza played scholastically at Christopher Columbus High School.
Walter Camp Player of Year Facts
- First awarded in 1967, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is the 59th recipient of the Walter Camp Player of Year award.
- Mendoza is the 24th quarterback to win the award. There have been 25 running backs, five wide receivers, one wide receiver/defensive back, one tight end and three defensive players.
- Colorado’s Travis Hunter (2024) was the first two-way player to win the award.
- Three players – USC’s OJ. Simpson (1967, 1968), Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1974, 1975) and Texas’ Colt McCoy (2008, 2009) have been multiple winners.
- Three defensive players have won the award – Pittsburgh’s Hugh Green (1980), Michigan’s Charles Woodson (1997) and Notre Dame’s Manti Teo (2012).
- Players from 26 different schools have earned the award. USC has won the most Player of Year awards (7), followed by Oklahoma, Ohio State and Notre Dame with four each.
Walter Camp Players of the Year, presented by Crabtree Lexus of New Haven
2025 – Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
2024 – Travis Hunter, WR/DB, Colorado
2023 – Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
2022 – Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2021 – Kenneth Walker III, RB, Michigan State
2020 – DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
2019 – Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
2018 – Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
2017 – Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
2016 – Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
2015 – Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
2014 – Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
2013 – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
2012 – Manti Te’o, LB, Notre Dame
2011 – Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
2010 – Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
2009 – Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
2008 – Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
2007 – Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
2006 – Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
2005 – Reggie Bush, RB, USC
2004 – Matt Leinart, QB, USC
2003 – Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Pittsburgh
2002 – Larry Johnson, RB, Penn State
2001 – Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
2000 – Josh Heupel, QB, Oklahoma
1999 – Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin
1998 – Ricky Williams, RB, Texas
1997 – Charles Woodson, DB, Michigan
1996 – Danny Wuerffel, QB, Florida
1995 – Eddie George, RB, Ohio State
1994 – Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado
1993 – Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State
1992 – Gino Torretta, QB, Miami
1991 – Desmond Howard, WR, Michigan
1990 – Raghib Ismail, WR, Notre Dame
1989 – Anthony Thompson, RB, Indiana
1988 – Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State
1987 – Tim Brown, WR, Notre Dame
1986 – Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami
1985 – Bo Jackson, RB, Auburn
1984 – Doug Flutie, QB, Boston College
1983 – Mike Rozier, RB, Nebraska
1982 – Herschel Walker, RB, Georgia
1981 – Marcus Allen, RB, USC
1980 – Hugh Green, DE, Pittsburgh
1979 – Charles White, RB, USC
1978 – Billy Sims, RB, Oklahoma
1977 – Ken MacAfee, TE, Notre Dame
1976 – Tony Dorsett, RB, Pittsburgh
1975 – Archie Griffin, RB, Ohio State
1974 – Archie Griffin, RB, Ohio State
1973 – John Cappelletti, RB, Penn State
1972 – Johnny Rodgers, RB, Nebraska
1971 – Pat Sullivan, QB, Auburn
1970 – Jim Plunkett, QB, Stanford
1969 – Steve Owens, RB, Oklahoma
1968 – O.J. Simpson, RB, USC
1967 – O.J. Simpson, RB, USC
Considered the “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp introduced the play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side in 1880. Nine years later, Mr. Camp, then the Yale University head coach, selected the first-ever college football All-America team.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information. The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients dating back to 1935.
About Crabtree Lexus of New Haven
Crabtree Lexus of New Haven is located at 655 Main Street in East Haven, CT, convenient from anywhere in the Northeast directly off of I-95. Visit them at https://www.CrabtreeLexus.com
About Lexus
Lexus’ passion for brave design, imaginative technology, and exhilarating performance enables the luxury lifestyle brand to create amazing experiences for its customers. Lexus began its journey in 1989 with two luxury sedans and a commitment to pursue perfection. Since then, Lexus has developed its lineup to meet the needs of global luxury customers in more than 90 countries. In the United States, Lexus vehicles are sold through 244 dealers offering a full lineup of luxury vehicles. With eight models incorporating Lexus Hybrid Drive, Lexus is the luxury hybrid leader. Lexus also offers nine F SPORT models, one F performance model and one F model. Lexus is committed to being a visionary brand that anticipates the future for luxury customers.
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