On Thursday’s episode of Always College Football, analyst Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy weighed in on the matchup, noting that the Hoosiers should not be overlooked.
Indiana reached the playoff last year, but lost to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 27-17 and McElroy does not think the program will drop in year two under head coach Curt Cignetti.
"I believe the Indiana Hoosiers will back up what they did this past season, and I don't know if the record will be quite as good as 11-1, but I absolutely think they have the capabilities of getting back into the playoff mix with what returns and some of the additions they've made," McElroy said.
He praised Indiana’s defensive “disruption” and veteran offensive line while still crediting both programs’ rebuilds under Bret Bielema and Curt Cignetti.
Indiana is a game plan nightmare for opposing offenses. With the addition of Kent State transfer Stephen Daley, Ty Tucker and Kellan Wyatt up front to go along with All-Americans Mikial Kamara, Aiden Fisher and D'Angelo Ponds the Hoosiers are going to give Altmyer and the crew from Champaign, Illinois hell on Saturday to say the least.
McElroy talked about how IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza fair against the Fighting Illini defense. "Mendoza will show why he was so coveted in the portal,” provided the pocket stays orderly.
"“I’ll take Indiana,” he said, while calling the passing matchup one that could “overwhelm” if protection tilts to the home team."Greg McElory
Mendoza has completed 55 of 76 passes (72.4%) for 708 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
Even , llinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry sees a quarterback with a bright professional future and a great college quarterback:
“He has a live arm. I’ve been watching this young man for a while back at Cal. He makes some throws you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ His arm is as live as live can get. He has a nice, beautiful ball he throws. His downfield vision, his progressions that he makes when he’s in the pocket are absolutely incredible. I think this dude is an NFL quarterback for a bunch of different reasons, but his ability to throw the ball is absolutely incredible.” said Henry
These teams both feel they have what it takes to make the College Football Playoff this year, but only one of them will be 4-0 when the final whistle blows.
No. 19 Indiana will host No. 9 Illinois on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.