New quarterbacks every season is nothing new for Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti. In his five seasons at James Madison, Cigentti had four different quarterbacks, and all of them went on to win Player of the Year awards. Even when Cignetti came to Indiana, he brought in Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke, who had no draft stoke before 2024 and now is a top ten quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cignetti knows how to coach quarterbacks, and now he has one that could be around for the next two seasons. It was clear that Rourke was only going to be a Hoosier for one season as he was out of eligibility after 2024, so Cignetti knew he had to hit the transfer portal to find a new quarterback, especially with backup QB Tayven Jackson transferring to UCF.
It's a good thing Cignetti knows how to work the portal because he was able to bring in the No. 3 quarterback in this portal cycle. Fernando Mendoza started his last 19 games with the Cal Bears and threw for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns with just 16 interceptions in that time. In 2024, Mendoza went off for 3,004 yards adn 16 touchdowns with just six interceptions, giving him a 68.7 completion percentage.
However, if there is one thing Hoosier fans learned about Cignetti in his first season at Indiana, it's that players must earn their spots on the field; they are never just given. Mendoza was not the only QB Cignetti brought in from the portal, as he also brought in Grant Wilson from Old Dominion, a school Cignetti is very familiar with in his time with James Madison.
It seems as though Mendoza will most likely end up the starter, but he will have to work for it. When talking on the ESPN College GameDay Podcast with Pete Thamel, Cignetti had a lot of great things to say about his new quarterback.
"He can throw the ball, he can spin the ball, he can make all the throws, he's pretty mobile, he throws well on the move, and he can run,” Cignetti said when talking with Thamel on the ESPN College GameDay podcast. "He runs better than Kurtis; he’s a highly intelligent guy. So that’s where it all begins as everybody knows, and we think he’s gonna give us something.”"
It isn't a big surprise that Mendoza will most likely run better than Rourke because it came out that Rourke was playing through. torn ACL all season long. However, it is still clear that Cignetti thinks highly of Mendoza and knows exactly what he is getting with this kid because he recruited his younger brother.
Cignetti's ties with the Mendoza family run deep as Alberto Mendoza committed to play for Cignetti at James Madison in 2023 and then flipped his commitment to Indiana when Cignetti made a move. Now, Cignetti will be coaching both brothers, which is probably a big reason why Fernando chose Indiana over bigger schools such as Georgia, UCLA, and Wisconsin.
Indiana needs to prove that 2024 wasn't a fluke, so in order to do that, they need to win consistently again in 2025. Mendoza just might be the key to all of it, but we will just have to wait and see.