Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti expressed some frustration with the officials in the college football national championship on Monday night.

Cignetti spoke to ESPN’s Holly Rowe and was frustrated with the lack of calls against the Miami Hurricanes for hits on Fernando Mendoza. The Heisman Trophy winner was left bloodied after one of the hits that were put on him.

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“There’s three personal fouls on the quarterback not called in one drive,” Cignetti said. “They need to be called because they’re obvious personal fouls. I’m all for letting them play, but when you cross the line, you gotta call it. They were black and white calls.”

Through the hits, Mendoza has hung in there and had Indiana up 10 points at halftime.

TRUMP ARRIVES AT INDIANA-MIAMI COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza looks to pass against Miami during the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)

He was 12-of-17 with 116 passing yards.

Indiana’s scoring began in the first quarter with a field goal. Then, with about 6:13 left in the second quarter, Mendoza led the Hoosiers down the field and handed the ball off to Riley Nowakowski to punch the ball in. The Hoosiers held a 10-0 lead at that point.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti speaks during news conference ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in Miami. The game will be played on Monday. (Chris Carlson/AP Photo)

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The Hurricanes started to find a rhythm late in the first half. But Carter Davis’ field goal attempt went off the upright. The Hurricanes only had three first downs despite having the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the half.

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Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow might not be in the playoffs, but he’s chiming in on some of the controversial plays in the postseason.

The catch-versus-no-catch debate involving Buffalo Bills wide receiver Brandin Cooks is still being talked about after the team’s Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos on Saturday night.

While many have given their take on the controversial play, the two remaining Divisional Round games on Sunday also had some debatable calls on catches.

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Burrow appeared to be on the side of the officials in all cases.

“The amount of ppl that don’t understand what a catch is in the rule book flabbergasts me. And it’s not the officials,” Burrow wrote on X. “The two plays yesterday were not difficult calls, and they got them both right.”

The play involving Cooks continues to be a pain point for football fans, let alone the city of Buffalo. If ruled a catch, Matt Prater might have walked it off with a field goal, and the Bills would be on to New England.

Instead, the play was ruled an interception by the Broncos, who eventually won the game and moved on to the AFC Championship Game.

As for the two plays Burrow references in his tweet, it’s unknown exactly what he’s talking about, but there was one play from each game on Sunday where debate ensued. 

First, Houston Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson fumbled, but the play was considered a catch after officials reviewed. Then, Los Angeles Rams star Davante Adams had a similar situation happen when his knee hit the turf, but he fumbled. 

In both cases, the offense maintained control of the ball, though there were some who believed the Cooks play should’ve seen the same result.

NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson weighed in on the interception for the Broncos, saying that Ja’Quan McMillan did indeed pull the ball away from Cooks, who he believes never had complete control of it.

“Replay has all of these angles to take a look and see ‘was the ruling on the field wrong, or was the ruling on the field correct?’” Anderson said on NFL Network. “If you can confirm that the ruling on the field is correct, they really want to move the game along, and they don’t want to have unnecessary stoppages.”

Sean McDermott, who has since been fired from his role as Bills head coach, was irate over the process of how the call was confirmed. He wanted officials to take a long look at the play, leading to his timeout call.

Joe Burrow (9) of the Cincinnati Bengals plays against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Sept. 7, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

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“It would seem logical to me… that the head official would walk over and want to go and take a look at it, just to make sure that everybody from here who is in the stadium to there are on the same page. That’s too big of a play, in my estimation, and a play that decided the game potentially as well, to not even slow it down,” McDermott said.

“It’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled. If it is ruled that way, then why wasn’t it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right? That would have made a lot of sense to me, to make sure that we have this thing right. Because that’s a pivotal play in the game. We have the ball at the 20, maybe kicking a game-winning field goal right there. So I’ll just leave it at that.”

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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After a long season, the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship is here.

The CFP’s final game presents a clash of two teams that have taken different paths to the championship. Indiana, which entering this season was the sport’s all-time losingest team at the Division I level, is looking to provide one of the most remarkable turnarounds in history with a remarkable ending. After an 11-2 first season under coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have blown through the college football circuit in his second campaign. They’re entering the title game as the No. 1 seed with a 15-0 record and an average margin of victory of 34.5 points across their first two playoff games.

Miami is hoping to bring one of the sport’s most storied programs back to the mountaintop. “The U” won five national titles across the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, boasting future NFL stars such as Ray Lewis and Reggie Wayne. In contrast to Indiana’s dominance, Hurricanes alum Mario Cristobal has brought his alma mater back to the championship game with a string of clutch performances. Miami was one of the last teams to be selected for the bracket, and in each of its three playoff games has either scored or prevented a game-changing touchdown in the final minute.

Though the Hoosiers are 7.5-point favorites on DraftKings, the Hurricanes will have at least one advantage — they’ll be playing in familiar territory, with the championship taking place at Miami’s home venue, Hard Rock Stadium.

With a get-in price of over $3,000, it’s clear the demand from both fan bases to witness the title clash is sky-high. Here are all the best sights and sounds from south Florida ahead of the 2026 title game.