With Indiana up 20-13 after stopping Iowa on its final possession, Mendoza ran off the last three seconds of the game by racing 40 yards backward on fourth-and-19 into his own end zone, where he was tackled for a safety.
“Coach said, ‘Hey, take a safety, run out of the end zone,'” Mendoza said. “When I got to the 2, I saw all zeros on the clock, but I kept going.”
Indiana closed as an 8.5-point favorite at ESPN BET, but those final two points could have affected wagers on alternate spreads.
On the previous Hoosiers possession, Mendoza threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Elijah Sarratt with 1:28 to play to keep No. 11 Indiana (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) undefeated.
The closest win of the season for the Hoosiers was one Cignetti called a “gut check,” and his players agreed.
“We’ve never been tested like that,” said offensive lineman Pat Coogan. “We have so much room to get better. And that’s the best feeling.”
Mendoza connected with Sarratt, who had six catches for 132 yards, on a slant route down the left side, and Sarratt broke the tackle attempt of Iowa’s Deshaun Lee on his way to the touchdown.
Indiana, which came into the game ranked second nationally in total offense and scoring offense, was held to 337 yards and its lowest scoring output of the season. But the Hoosiers got two touchdown passes from Mendoza, who threw for 233 yards, and two field goals from Nico Radicic.
“It was the good, the bad and the ugly, and there was a lot of the bad and the ugly,” Cignetti said.
Iowa (3-2, 1-1) had a chance to break a 13-13 tie with 2:01 to play, but Drew Stevens missed a 42-yard field goal. The Hawkeyes were also without quarterback Mark Gronowski, who left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent lower leg injury.
He wanted to come back on Iowa’s next series but was replaced by Hank Brown, who finished 5-of-13 for 48 yards.
“He just didn’t feel like he could decelerate if he ran,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who added that Gronowski would undergo further tests Sunday.
Mendoza said he was following orders from coach Curt Cignetti.
Mendoza added: “I know I really cooked people’s spreads. My apologies out to them.”
The quarterback said he knew Iowa would blitz and that his outside receivers would have room.
Up next for the Hoosiers, following a bye, is a marquee matchup at No. 6 Oregon on Oct. 11.