
Indiana’s Curt Cignetti on team’s first-round loss to Notre Dame
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti discusses the pride he has in his team’s season despite a first-round exit to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.
Sports Pulse
BLOOMINGTON – Indiana football landed a veteran quarterback to fill the hole left by Kurtis Rourke’s impending departure Tuesday, and it didn’t have to look far afield to find him.
Fernando Mendoza, Cal’s starting quarterback each of the past two seasons and the brother of IU redshirt freshman QB Alberto Mendoza, committed to Indiana according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. His addition immediately lands the Hoosiers one of the most highly rated transfer quarterbacks in the current class.
The Hoosiers beat out Georgia and Miami to land the coveted transfer.
Across two seasons with the Bears, Mendoza passed for 4,712 yards, with 30 touchdowns to 16 interceptions. Last season was his best: 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, despite playing behind an offensive line that allowed 41 sacks.
That work earned Mendoza the No. 9 spot in 247Sports’ overall transfer portal class ranking, and ranked him the service’s No. 2 quarterback. Those numbers will be fluid based on future portal entrants, but they speak to a measure of respect for the 6-5, 225-pound signal caller that extends to the NFL, where scouts believe Mendoza could have an NFL future.
IU coach Curt Cignetti won’t have promised Mendoza a starting job. But it stands to reason his experience and resume to this point lend him the same sort of status as Rourke, who was central to the Hoosiers’ plans at quarterback from the moment he committed last winter.
Tayven Jackson, who started the Washington game and relieved an injured Rourke in the Nebraska win, entered the transfer portal, making additions to the quarterback room vital to IU’s offseason plans.
Mendoza joins a quarterback room right now projected to include the younger Mendoza and Tyler Cherry (redshirt freshman). All players’ eligibility is listed according to their status for the 2025 season.
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