As he headed into halftime with a 10-0 lead against Miami, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti ripped the officiating in the national championship game. He called out three “obvious” missed calls on hits Fernando Mendoza took in the first half.

Mendoza took multiple hits early as Indiana took a two-score lead over Miami into halftime. One of them generated criticism from ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and rules analyst Bill LeMonnier, who thought there could have been a targeting penalty.

Throughout the first half, Cignetti made his displeasure clear with the officiating. He also didn’t hold back during his halftime interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, calling for the referees to blow the whistle when his quarterback takes big hits.

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

With just over four minutes to go in the first quarter, Mendoza took a monster hit from Miami’s Jakobe Thomas after faking a hand-off, and the IU quarterback came up bleeding as a result. Cignetti was furious with the no-call from the officials, and Herbstreit also criticized the decision.

“I’m surprised we didn’t see a flag come down,” Herbstreit said. “But I think carrying out the fake, quarterback is in play. Maybe they held the flag because of that.”

LeMonnier initially thought it could have just been a late hit penalty against Thomas. But after seeing another angle, he saw indicators of targeting. The referees did not throw a flag, and play continued.

“He came in – on the first view, I didn’t see that part of it,” LeMonnier said out of the commercial break. “I thought it was just a late hit. But this one here, he came in crown of the helmet, right into his head.”

Mendoza did not have to leave the game, although he got cleaned up on the sidelines, and Indiana eventually went into halftime up 10-0. The Hoosiers got on the board early with a field goal and added a touchdown on a handoff to tight end Riley Nowakowski, who was lined up at fullback, to extend the lead.

Through two quarters, Miami totaled just 69 yards of offense while specifically having a hard time getting the run game going. Indiana gets the ball first out of halftime, and Curt Cignetti said while he was proud of the defensive effort, he’d like to see more points on the board out of the gate.

“We’ve got a two-score lead,” Cignetti said. “The defense hasn’t let them in the end zone or on the scoreboard. We get the ball first. Sure would be nice to go down there and score a touchdown.”