When you are in the midst of a Heisman campaign, chances are you are going to need clutch moments to boost your narrative. It also doesn’t hurt to get positive endorsements from coaches within your conference. After the events of Saturday afternoon, you could say Fernando Mendoza had both.

Mendoza’s game-winning drive against the now 3-6 Nittany Lions preserved the Hoosiers‘ unbeaten record and chances of potentially gaining the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff. However, the fact that Terry Smith, the Penn State interim head coach who looked headed for his first win in stunning fashion, had to tip his cap had to feel good for one of the Heisman frontrunners. Especially when the Penn State defense had him on the ropes as well.

“When you get in games like this, you have to have players that make plays to win games, and he won the game for them. He was amazing. He’s tough. We hit him relentlessly the entire game. He kept getting up. He delivered throws. You could say they were lucky, but he kept doing it time after time.

You know that last drive, the pressure is there. We get the sack. I don’t know if we would do anything different. The coverage is right there. Those guys made plays. And unfortunately, that’s the nature of this game. We can live with results when guys make plays, we can’t live with results when we’re making mistakes.” Smith said of Mendoza’s gutsy effort in his postgame press conference. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you are relentless through almost 58 minutes of a football game. Mendoza was able to exploit that weakness, and there was nothing the Nittany Lions could do about it. So while Mendoza marches on for the prestigious Heisman, Penn State is left in shock and awe after another “almost” moment.

Mendoza still has work to do in order for his Hoosiers to remain unbeaten and to win the Heisman. He is currently the second favorite to win the award behind Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. Both could meet in the Big Ten Championship Game with the victor ultimately earning the trophy.

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions will go on the road looking to salvage a lost season and maintain their fight for bowl eligibility against Michigan State.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Terry Smith commends Fernando Mendoza for final drive