Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Touted as CFP Lock By Fans After Blowout of Iamaleava, UCLA

The No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers continued to roll Saturday with a dominant, 56-6 win over the UCLA Bruins at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.

With the victory, Indiana improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play, further cementing the Hoosiers as a national championship contender.

Head coach Curt Cignetti's team was the talk of social media after yet another one-sided triumph with fans labeling the Hoosiers a College Football Playoff lock and a legitimate national title threat:

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza entered Saturday's game as the Heisman Trophy front-runner, and he continued his strong play with 168 yards, three touchdowns and one interception through the air, and 45 yards and one score on the ground.

Mendoza didn't put up huge yardage numbers, but it is mostly because the Hoosiers didn't need him to since all aspects of the team were firing on all cylinders.

Indiana rushed for 262 yards as a team, forced three turnovers and held UCLA to only 201 total yards of offense.

The Indiana defense set the tone in the opening moments of the game, as linebacker Aiden Fisher returned a Nico Iamaleava interception 25 yards for a touchdown after just 57 seconds.

Entering this week, UCLA had bounced back from an 0-4 start with three wins in a row, and Iamaleava's improved play was a big reason why.

However, he couldn't solve the Indiana defense on Saturday, finishing with just 113 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions on 13-of-27 passing.

Along with Mendoza, other Indiana offensive standouts included running back Roman Hemby with 81 rushing yards and two touchdowns and wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr. with five receptions for 109 yards and two scores.

Last season was Cignetti's first on the job at Indiana, and he led the Hoosiers to their best record since 1945, as they went 11-2 and reached the College Football Playoff.

It was unclear if they would be able to build on that success this season since they lost quarterback Kurtis Rourke to the NFL, but Mendoza has thrived since transferring from California.

Given how the Hoosiers have looked over the past two seasons, it is starting to feel like they may be a true power in the college football world.

Indiana will look to continue its run of success next Saturday in a road game against Maryland, while UCLA will enter a bye week and then attempt to rebound in a home game against Nebraska in two weeks.