Indiana Football Incoming Transfer Profile: Fernando Mendoza

Head coach Curt Cignetti made a number of additions to Indiana's roster via the transfer portal this offseason, but the biggest name to know is incoming quarterback Fernando Mendoza. 

Cignetti took the program to historic heights, an appearance in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, behind a transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke and hopes to hit transfer gold again with the addition of Mendoza. 

Mendoza comes to Bloomington after two seasons at Cal, where he started as both a freshman and sophomore. Over two seasons there, he passed for 30 touchdowns versus 16 interceptions. 

He took care of the ball a lot better as a sophomore, throwing just six of his career interceptions last year while also throwing for two more touchdowns than his freshman campaign. 

Though Rourke's mobility was limited by a torn ACL during his time at Indiana, Mendoza is a better natural runner than Rourke. Per PFF, he picked up 244 yards scrambling on broken plays last year, with 13 carries of 10 yards or more on the season. In his last fully healthy season, Rourke only scrambled for 145 yards. 

While Cignetti certainly hopes to keep Mendoza better protected than he was at Cal, Mendoza's legs will give offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan an additional layer to work with that he didn't last season with Rourke. 

With a better offensive line in front of him and a more talented running backs group behind him, Mendoza could be a good fit in a scheme that relies more heavily on RPO plays than Indiana did last year with Rourke. 

Mendoza is certainly a capable passer though, so don't expect Indiana to look completely different on the offensive side of the ball this season. His highest PFF passing grades are in the medium (10-19 yard) and deep (20+ yard) zones, meaning Indiana will still be a threat downfield this year. 

The area where Mendoza struggles most is passing under pressure, where he's a little below the average PFF grade for the position. He fumbled the ball a few too many times and threw two of his six interceptions when under pressure, but was able to slightly mitigate the issue with his legs, as mentioned above. 

Indiana will look to provide him better protection in the running and passing game at Cal, but there will be inevitable breakdowns. This is where Mendoza's development under new quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer comes in. 

Unlike Rourke, Mendoza comes to Bloomington with at least two more years of college eligibility remaining. For the first time in the Cignetti era, Indiana may have found a long term starting quarterback.