last season

Twisting and tying shoelaces into a knot became a formidable task for Justin Herbert in the days following hand surgery.

Every time the Chargers quarterback leaned over to tie his shoes, his cast would nudge in the way, complicating a once-menial task.

For Herbert, it became a constant reminder of the broken bone he suffered during a 31-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 30 — a helmet-to-hand hit from Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn that required surgery on his non-throwing hand the next day.

And while the 27-year-old, who earned his second Pro Bowl honor Tuesday, has been far from perfect since the injury, the Chargers (11-4) have managed to win four consecutive games, including two against last season’s Super Bowl teams.

“The days went on, and as I got better and more mobility with (the left hand), I think it’s become more normal, and it feels a bit better, so that’s also a positive,” Herbert said earlier this week.

Eking out wins against the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, Herbert increased his yards-per-pass attempt from 5.3 yards to 7.2 yards. His completion percentage improved from a season-low 46.2% against the Eagles to a respectable 65.5% against the Chiefs.

Against the Dallas Cowboys, Herbert recorded a 132.8 passer rating, his best since December 2021 in Week 14 against the New York Giants. He passed for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-17 win over the Cowboys that led to the Chargers clinching a playoff berth Monday with San Francisco’s win over Indianapolis.

“To me, that’s just a test of the type of person, type of player he is,” said wide receiver Quentin Johnston, who made a spectacular, one-handed touchdown catch and finished with 104 receiving yards against Dallas. “I mean, shoot, still playing and executing at a high level — I’m really happy to be on the team with him. I would rather be with nobody else but him.”

The Houston Texans (10-5) on Saturday at SoFi Stadium will allow Herbert the chance to build on his impressive season, and exorcise at least some of his playoff demons.

Herbert’s nightmare performance against the Texans in the wild-card playoffs last season remains seared into his memory. He threw a career-worst four interceptions in a 32-12 defeat that dropped him to 0-2 in career playoff games.

“No one felt worse than I did,” Herbert said. “I think it’s important to continue to move forward and realize that it’s what happened, and it would be crazy of me to deny the truth of what happened and to live in this reality where, if I tried to block it out, I don’t think that’s gonna be any good.”

Plenty remains at stake for the Chargers. They remain in the hunt for the AFC West title and the AFC’s top playoff seed. If the Chargers beat the Texans and follow with a win over the Denver Broncos in Week 18, they’ll win the division. The Chargers need to win out and hope the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots both lose at least once to secure the No. 1 seed.

While coach Jim Harbaugh says the team is approaching the next two weeks one game at a time, the Chargers’ defense — inspired by Herbert’s efforts — sees the path to continuing their red-hot run.

“It’s a hell of a statement he’s making throughout the building, and everybody can feel it,” outside linebacker Khalil Mack said.

NEW YORK — Fernando Mendoza, the enthusiastic quarterback of No. 1 Indiana, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college football’s most prestigious award since its inception in 1935.

Mendoza claimed 2,362 points, including 643 first-place votes. He beat Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 points), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 points) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 points).

Mendoza’s Heisman win was emphatic. He finished first in all six Heisman regions, the first to do so since Caleb Williams in 2022. He was named on 95.16% of all ballots, tying him with Marcus Mariota in 2014 for the second highest in the award’s history and he received 84.6% of total possible points, which is the seventh highest in Heisman history.

“I haven’t seen the numbers yet,” said Mendoza, “but it’s such an honor to be mentioned with these guys [Pavia, Love and Sayin]. It’s really a credit to our team. It’s a team award.”

Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores. Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP.

A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top-10 finish in Heisman balloting and it marks another first in program history — having back-to-back players in the top 10. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.

With his teammates chanting “HeismanDoza” as he addressed the media, he said he felt he had a realistic chance of winning the Heisman after the Hoosiers routed then-No. 19 Illinois 63-10 on Sept. 20.

“At that point my boys [teammates] said we might make it to New York [for the award ceremony],” he said. “It was lighthearted at the time, but that’s when it started. “

Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years, with two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado ending the run last season.

Mendoza is the 43rd quarterback to win the Heisman and the second winner of Latin American descent to claim the trophy. Stanford’s Jim Plunkett was the first in 1970.

“Although I grew up in America, my four grandparents are all from Cuba,” he said. “I had the opportunity to go there and that was important to me. I credit the love to my grandparents and the Hispanic community.”

The Heisman Trophy presentation came after a number of accolades were already awarded. Mendoza was named the Associated Press player of the year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards Friday night, while Love won the Doak Walker Award.

Mendoza and Pavia clearly exemplify the changing landscape of using the transfer portal in college football. Mendoza is the seventh transfer to win the award in the last nine years. Vanderbilt is Pavia’s third school.

Confident Commodore

Pavia finished second with 189 first-place votes. He threw for a school-record 3,192 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Commodores, who were pushing for a CFP berth all the way to the bracket announcement. He is the first Heisman finalist in Vanderbilt history.

Generously listed as 6 feet tall, Pavia led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season along with six wins against Southeastern Conference foes. That includes four wins over ranked programs as Vandy reached No. 9, its highest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 since 1937.

Pavia went from being unrecruited out of high school to junior college, New Mexico State and finally Vanderbilt in 2024 through the transfer portal.

Vandy will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Iowa on Dec. 31.

Irish Love

The last running back to win the Heisman was Alabama’s Derrick Henry in 2015. Love put himself in the mix with an outstanding season for Notre Dame. He finished with 46 first-place votes.

The junior from St. Louis was fourth in the Bowl Subdivision in yards rushing (1,372), fifth in per-game average (114.3) and third with 18 rushing touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, who missed out on a CFP bid and opted not to play in a bowl game.

He was the first player in Notre Dame’s storied history to produce multiple touchdown runs of 90 or more yards, a 98-yarder against Indiana in the first round of last year’s playoffs and a 94-yarder against Boston College earlier this season.

Buckeyes’ leader

Sayin led the Buckeyes to a No. 1 ranking for most of the season, throwing for 3,329 yards while tying for second in the country with 31 touchdown passes ahead of their CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

The sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., arrived at Ohio State after initially committing to Alabama and entering the transfer portal following a coaching change. He played four games last season before winning the starting job. He led the Buckeyes to a 14-7 win in the opener against preseason No. 1 Texas and kept the team atop the AP Top 25 for 13 straight weeks, tying its second-longest run.

Sayin follows a strong lineage of Ohio State quarterbacks since coach Ryan Day arrived in 2017. Dwayne Haskins (2018), Justin Fields (2019), C.J. Stroud (2021), and Kyle McCord (2023) averaged 3,927 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and six interceptions, along with a 68.9% completion rate, during their first seasons.

Merrill writes for the Associated Press.