After a historic 2024 season, Indiana football heads into the 2025 season with high expectations.<\/p>\n
Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a> will be critical to reaching the Hoosiers\u2019 lofty goals, as he was named the \u2018X-Factor\u2019 for Indiana by ESPN college football reporter Eli Lederman.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAmong all the variables that could potentially lift \u2014 or let down \u2014 the Hoosiers\u2019 in Year 2 under coach Curt Cignetti, none feel more important than [Mendoza],\u201d Lederman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 11 games last season, Mendoza passed for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just six interceptions while leading Cal to a 6-5 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Indiana football adds 3 future nonconference opponents, cancels series with Virginia<\/a><\/p>\n He showcased great accuracy as he completed 68.7% of his passes, which ranked 12th in the nation among QBs with at least 100 attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMendoza has big shoes to fill after Kurtis Rourke motored Indiana\u2019s record-setting offense to the nation\u2019s second-best points per game tally (41.3) in 2024,\u201d Lederman said. \u201cBut Mendoza should be playing behind a sturdier offensive line in 2025, and there are plenty of playmakers within an intriguing Hoosiers skill position group led by veteran receiver Elijah Sarratt.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mendoza played behind a struggling offensive line at Cal, which allowed the most sacks in the FBS.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a result of the offensive line struggles, Mendoza displayed his combination of athleticism and arm talent as he was forced to create outside of the pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indiana made a point of emphasis to improve that unit by adding Pat Coogan<\/a>, Kahlil Benson<\/a>, and Zen Michalski<\/a> in the transfer portal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those three additions, alongside returning starters led by standout left tackle Carter Smith<\/a>, will give Mendoza some stability up front.\u00a0<\/p>\n TRENDING: 2026 commit Prince-Alexander Moody has fully embraced Hoosier nation: \u2018Being a Hoosier is a privilege\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n On the outside, Mendoza will have a talented receiving core led by Elijah Sarratt<\/a> and Omar Cooper Jr,<\/a> who were the top two receivers on Indiana\u2019s playoff team a season ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mendoza will also have the luxury of playing in an extremely quarterback-friendly offense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He will be the fourth quarterback to start under Cignetti in as many years, with the previous three all finding a ton of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is an argument that Mendoza is the most talented quarterback to play under Cignetti, as he has found success in the Power Four despite a less-than-ideal situation around him at Cal.<\/p>\n While Mendoza was good last season, taking that next step will go a long way in deciding the fate of Indiana next season.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Mendoza can find another gear operating a more favorable situation this fall, it could go a long way toward pulling Indiana back into playoff contention,\u201d Lederman said.<\/p>\n With a much better situation this fall, the sky is the limit for Mendoza as he looks to lead Indiana back to the College Football Playoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not yet a member of TheHoosier? Take advantage of our launch with On3 and\u00a0join our community<\/a>! Just $1 for your FIRST MONTH and then 50% off the rest of your FIRST YEAR! Join\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a historic 2024 season, Indiana football heads into the 2025 season with high expectations. Cal transfer quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26735,7,34144,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-213006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-fernando-mendoza-22-columbus","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-hoosier-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114866026416686062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}