After finishing with two losses in the 2024 season and a first-round exit in the College Football Playoff, head coach Curt Cignetti knew he was going to need a few changes to his roster. His No. 1 priority was to get a quarterback, preferably from the transfer portal, and he certainly lucked out in that department.
Cignetti found Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza and was able to convince not just him, but also his brother Alberto Mendoza, who is also a quarterback, to come to Bloomington to play for the Hoosiers. The decision has paid off tremendously for both sides as the Hoosiers are now the No. 1 team heading to the College Football Playoff with the only undefeated record, and Mednoza is a Heisman Trophy finalist.
If you ask Mendoza, though, where his success comes from, he will barely talk about himself, but instead talk about what his team has done for him, and they are the reason for his success.
"I'm shining now, but only because there are so many stars around me," Mendoza said in a recent interview.
Fernando Mendoza with one of the best analogies for a team and teamwork.
— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) December 11, 2025
"I'm shining now, but only because there are so many stars around me."
(🎥@Hoosier_Review)pic.twitter.com/SdJ32gfwnZ
Indiana players have come up with a great nickname for their team all season long
No one ever thought that Indiana would be in this position in just two years under Curt Cignetti, but he certainly has proven he can put together teams that win. The Hoosiers are not made up of the highest-ranked players coming out of high school, but instead call themselves a couple of misfits who found the right home.
Mendoza even spoke about it after the Big Ten Championship win, saying that the reason these "misfits" work so well at Indiana is because of the process.
"We’re process-oriented. We’re going day-by-day, whether it’s the offensive line, the defense, the coaches, special teams, we’re all process-oriented to one goal, that’s our thing," Mendoza said. "Because we’re brothers, we can drag teams into the deep end because we know we’re going to stick together and we’re the strongest glue ever."
All it takes is the right group to get together to take a team to a National Championship, and right now, Indiana is looking like the team to beat in the College Football Playoff.