Pages from Indiana Football 2025-26 Book

‘The best place for me:’ Why Mendoza chose Indiana over Georgia, Miami and all the rest

ZACH OSTERMAN

FERNANDO MENDOZA ENtered the transfer portal eyes wide open, not just to the opportunities potential new teams presented, but to the ways he would be pushed to improve by their coaches.

A third-year sophomore, Mendoza passed for more than 3,000 yards in 2024, in his first full season as California’s No. 1 quarterback. After starting the final eight games as a redshirt freshman, Mendoza showed across-the-board improvement as fulltime starter. But, with his sights on the NFL as a long-term goal, Mendoza knew he needed to find a coaching staff and an offense that would push him to be even better.

Through conversations with and interest from a host of programs, including Georgia, Miami (Florida) and Missouri, the quarterback ranked No. 3 at his position in this offseason’s portal cycle found what he was looking for in Bloomington. Other top signal callers in the portal were Georgia’s Carson

Beck (who landed with Miami) and Washington State’s John Mateer (who landed with Oklahoma).

Mendoza’s commitment to Indiana was first reported on Christmas Eve.

“I still believe I have a ton of things to get better at,” Mendoza told IndyStar

Mendoza cut his interception rate from one every 24.3 attempts to one every 64.3 attempts last season.

Three times last fall, Mendoza was selected ACC quarterback of the week.

Indiana jumped into his recruitment as soon as it could.

“The journey is a whirlwind. It happens so fast. My family and I had decided my time at Berkeley had come to an end. It was an amazing chapter in my life. ”

FERNANDO MENDOZA

on Jan. 3, 2025. “Indiana was the best place for me to make that jump developmentally.”

Across 21 games in Berkeley (20 of them starts), Mendoza passed for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns. Mendoza, born in Boston but raised in Miami, completed 66.5% of his passes leading the Bears to back-to-back bowls, and

“The journey is a whirlwind,” Mendoza said. “It happens so fast. My family and I had decided my time at Berkeley had come to an end. It was an amazing chapter in my life. After I entered my name into the portal, a couple very important schools reached out and had great conversations. I tried to get as much information as possible

on every school.”

The Hoosiers offered obvious appeal.

Dating to their time at James Madison, coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan enjoyed substantial success fitting their scheme around transfer quarterbacks. Jordan McCloud won Sun Belt player of the year in his season working in their offense, in 2023, and Kurtis Rourke made second-team All-Big Ten while setting numerous single-season IU passing records last season.

But Indiana also enjoyed an added bonus — the personal experience of Mendoza’s younger brother, Alberto, who redshirted his freshman season in Bloomington in 2024.

“I think having my little brother there, who’s my best friend and the person who pushes me the hardest, it was great to have that, to see his perspective on the coaching staff, the culture,” Fernando Mendoza said.

Mendoza visited Bloomington not long after entering the portal, where he spent time with several returning players. Cignetti’s offense projects

OPPOSITE: Oct 26, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) throws a pass against the Oregon State Beavers during the first quarter at California Memorial Stadium. DARREN

YAMASHITA / IMAGN IMAGES

In Las Vegas, a calculated Cignetti stood up for Indiana and Big Ten using SEC criteria

ZACH OSTERMAN

CURT CIGNETTI CAME TO his turn at the podium during Big Ten media days armed with two familiar tools. When asked a pointed question about Indiana’s scheduling philosophy, he put them to use.

Defending that philosophy — which came under scrutiny after IU canceled a two-game series with Virginia — Cignetti cited a dozen SEC teams that played similar schedules, allowing for the difference in conference schedule sizes (the SEC played eight league games, the Big Ten nine).

Those facts were his first tool. While Cignetti has become a coach often reduced to soundbites and one-liners, he rarely arrived to anything unprepared.

And then because, yes, those one-liners come naturally, Cignetti reached for the second: Humor, as dry as it was on point.

“We figured we’d just adopt an SEC scheduling philosophy,” he said. The entire episode served up a series

of reminders about Cignetti, and the way he represents Indiana football. None more fundamental than this: He’s never going to apologize, for his approach or his program.

Most of Cignetti’s podium discussion on July 22 at Mandalay Bay Resort in

Cignetti estimated, were his last five, an encouraging sign.

He suggested his team was more “pieces” than a whole group, unsurprising for a coach who by his own description saw each season as its own distinct organism.

“I like a lot of parts on this team. Now we’ve got to get them all thinking alike, buying into the team vision, which is critical to success. ”

CURT CIGNETTI

Las Vegas was standard fare.

He fielded questions about following up last fall’s record-breaking 11-victory season (the best, he reminded attendees during his opening remarks, in program history, “No. 1 of 126”). He talked about recruiting and coaching new quarterback Fernando Mendoza, whose best days of spring practice,

“I would use that term, pieces, and now we’ve got to mold this group into a team in fall camp,” Cignetti said. “I like a lot of parts on this team. Now we’ve got to get them all thinking alike, buying into the team vision, which is critical to success. You can’t ever have any selfishness on your team, ever, regardless of who it is.”

Most of his messaging pushed the need to stay hungry and refuse to be satisfied but instead motivated by last season.

So much of the discussion around Indiana this offseason — up to and including the Hoosiers’ softer scheduling choices — sprung from the question of whether Indiana could sustain what was unprecedented success in 2024. Whether last season was a one-off or something more stayed. More durable.

Eyes only ever forward, Cignetti’s response to such suggestions was predictable.

“We’re not looking to sustain it,” Cignetti said. “We’re looking to improve it.”

And, because even Cignetti will acknowledge a program takes on the persona of its coach, IU will not be backing down from that ambition — or anything else — anytime soon.

So, while Cignetti’s comments sent a ripple through social media and might have irritated one or two friends down South, they should not have come as a surprise.

OPPOSITE: Jul 22, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. LUCAS PELTIER / MAGN IMAGES

‘Your antenna is always up’: How coach and his bosses deftly kept roster and staff intact

MICHAEL NIZIOLEK

CURT CIGNETTI KNOWS BETter than most that success creates opportunity.

Cignetti climbed the coaching ranks from Division II all the way to the Power Four one winning season at a time. He already has planted his flag in Bloomington — he signed a lucrative new extension after Indiana’s 10-0 start in 2024 that will pay him $8 million a year through 2032 — but he recognized the Hoosiers’ first appearance in the College Football Playoff would open doors for many of his coaches and players.

“Your antenna is always up,” Cignetti told The Herald-Times in an offseason sit-down interview.

Cignetti managed to keep all eight players who won All-Big Ten honors, including three All-Americans, with eligibility left. He also was able to bring back all but one (quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri) of his 10 on-the-field coaches.

Indiana was one of just five teams in the 18-team Big Ten that didn’t change at least one of its coordinators. There were three teams in the conference — Maryland, Nebraska and Ohio State — that replaced offensive and defensive coordinators. And Cignetti had five coaches on his staff who had been with him for three or more seasons. That continuity across the roster and coaching staff helped explain the confidence Cignetti had going into the 2025 season.

“I get questions, how are you going to sustain it?” Cignetti said at Big Ten media days. “We’re not looking to sustain it. We’re looking to improve it. And the way you do that is by having the right people on the bus, upstairs in the coaches’ offices, downstairs in the locker room.”

‘Anxious moments’ overcome to keep talented roster intact Indiana’s draft hopefuls with eligibility left didn’t keep fans waiting in the aftermath of a disappointing 27-17 opening-round CFP loss to Notre Dame.

Linebacker Aiden Fisher got the ball rolling by announcing plans to run it back for 2025 with a social media post two days after the game. Defensive end Mikail Kamara and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds quickly followed suit.

Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt said Cignetti gave players the space to make their decisions. They huddled with their families, but the general sentiment among the group was that if everyone came back, they would have the makings of another postseason contender.

There weren’t any meaningful departures in the transfer portal, either.

The 13 scholarship players who entered the portal in the winter combined for 14 starts last season; cornerback Jamier Johnson accounting for 10 of those. The Hoosiers signed multiple experienced players at the position (Pitt’s Ryland Gandy and Northern Illinois’ Amariyun Knighten) before Johnson’s departure even became official.

“They like the program, they believe in the program and they have relationships with each other and relationships

with the coaches and (head strength coach) Derek (Owings),” Cignetti said.

“They came into JMU and they developed and got a little chip on their shoulder, had something to prove and continued to develop. Why would you go somewhere else?”

Beyond the loyalty IU players felt toward Cignetti, he had the NIL resources at his disposal to keep everyone happy while remaining active in the portal.

“I had a pretty good idea what my number would be early on, and so we were able to go to work,” Cignetti said without revealing specific figures. It was all smooth sailing until outside forces threatened to upend IU’s feelgood offseason midway through spring camp. Cignetti, like many coaches, heard the whispers of big-money deals being offered to basketball players in the transfer portal ahead of an expected settlement in the House v. NCAA case.

There was initial optimism that the judge in the case would accept the terms of the settlement before the spring window for football opened for 10 days on

OPPOSITE: Indiana’s Carter Smith (65) practices next to Pat Coogan (78) and Drew Evans (62) at Indiana University football practice on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. RICH JANZARUK / HERALD-TIMES

NO. 2 INDIANA 13, NO.1 OHIO STATE 10 AT STADIUM, CITY

Undisputed! In rock fight of unbeatens, IU wins first outright Big Ten title in 80 years

MICHAEL NIZIOLEK

DESPITE WINNING ALL ITS games by an average of 36½ points, Indiana came to Lucas Oil Stadium as the battle-tested team. The second-ranked Hoosiers had pulled out a series of hard-earned victories on the road — at Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. Before the Big Ten championship game, top-ranked Ohio State hadn’t trailed in the second half. Those different journeys to Indianapolis helped determine the outcome of a hard-fought, nail-biting, emotional battle between the country’s last unbeaten teams. In the final minutes, Indiana came through with clutch plays at every turn while Ohio State couldn’t find the end zone after reaching the IU 9, missed a gimme field goal badly and couldn’t get off the field on an IU third-and-6.

Indiana 13, Ohio State 10!

“No doubt about it,” IU coach Curt

Cignetti said. “I think we probably all on the bench — as that clock started to tick down into the fourth quarter and it was game on the line — probably at some point felt like, ‘Wow, we’ve been here and we’ve won, and they’ve never been here.’”

In the latest history-making moment for a program that finished 3-9 two seasons ago, the Hoosiers beat Ohio State for the first time since 1988, won their first Big Ten title since sharing it with Purdue and Minnesota in 1967, and captured their first outright conference crown since 1945. The Hoosiers (13-0) also were guaranteed to ascend to the top of the polls for the first time ever, land the No. 1 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff, earn a firstround bye and play their quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

“We’ve accomplished a lot,” Cignetti said. “You can’t diminish what we’ve accomplished.”

The road to Indianapolis was paved

by making a key defensive stand at Iowa to force a late field goal that the Hawkeyes missed and then scoring on a 49-yard pass, rebounding after a fourth-quarter pick-six at Oregon with a 75-yard touchdown drive that took 6:19, and covering 80 yards in 75 seconds at Penn State thanks to an end-zone catch for the ages.

The stakes were never higher than Saturday night in downtown Indianapolis, but the Hoosiers had a steady pulse on their sideline.

“When you’ve been through something one time, you’re a lot better the second time,” Cignetti said. “Gives you a lot of belief and confidence.”

That’s how Indiana’s defense survived two long OSU drives in the second half without surrendering a single point.

Midway through the third quarter, after IU went ahead 13-10 on Nico Radicic’s 32-yard field goal, the Buckeyes (12-1) kept the ball for 6:28

and used 11 plays to travel 70 yards to the IU 5. On the 12th play, a fourthand-1, Justin Sayin surged into a mass of humanity on a sneak for a first down — until a video review reversed the call on the field.

After a nine-play IU drive stalled, the Buckeyes started from their 10 with 10:45 left in the game. On OSU’s 12th play, an 8-yard run by Bo Jackson made it second-and-2 from the IU 10 with 3:37 remaining. But defensive tackle Dominique Ratcliff and friends stopped Jackson’s next rush at the 9. On third down, when Sayin rolled right and fired to tight end Bennett Christian in the end zone, linebacker Rolijah Hardy leaped and with his right arm deflected the ball a nanosecond before it could reach Christian’s hands.

On fourth-and-1 with 2:51 left, OSU coach Ryan Day elected to go for the tie. Jayden Fielding, who had missed only two kicks all season, pushed a 27-yard field-goal attempt way wide left.

OPPOSITE: Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosies celebrate after the Indiana versus Ohio State BIg Ten Championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. RICH JANZARUK / HERALD-TIMES

RIGHT: Ohio State Buckeyes kicker Jayden Fielding (38) reacts following a missed field goal during the Big Ten Conference championship game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 6, 2025. Ohio State lost 13-10.

ADAM CAIRNS / COLUMBUS DISPATCH

OPPOSITE LEFT: Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Charlie Becker (80) catches a pass in front of Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. (7) on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, during the Big Ten football championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

GRACE HOLLARS / INDYSTAR

OPPOSITE RIGHT: Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Charlie Becker (80) celebrates after making a catch in front of Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. (7) on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, during the Big Ten football championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

GRACE HOLLARS / INDYSTAR

“We had to find a way, they were like 12-play drives, and we just had to dig,” IU defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker. “All of us had to dig and find a way to win. I was pretty gassed, but when it’s championship ball, you can’t be gassed. Still had to get after them.”

It echoed the message Cignetti delivered to the team at the end of the extended halftime.

“I kind of gathered them right at the beginning of the end of the half, which

I usually don’t do, and very calmly said, this is what we talked about, this is the kind of game we expected,” Cignetti said.

“I gathered the team 20 minutes later, before we went out, it was more like, ‘OK, do we have what it takes to win a gut check, physical game like this? This is going to be a test of our toughness and our persistence.”

After the defense forced a three-andout to start the third quarter, Indiana scored the game’s only touchdown on

a seven-play, 88-yard drive. Fernando Mendoza hit Charlie Becker for a 51-yard gain — one of the longest plays OSU had surrendered all season — setting up a 17yard touchdown throw to Elijah Sarratt.

Day later said he regretted not attempting a field goal when Sayin was stopped on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter, but he thought going for the tie in the fourth quarter was the right move.

“When you miss a field goal,” Day said, “you’re sick over it and you second-guess

yourself right from the jump.”

He later said: “We were struggling down there in the red area, and let’s get the thing tied up and see if we can get the ball back and look to kick a field goal to win the game.”

After Fielding’s miss, the Hoosiers quickly faced a third-and-6 from their 24 with 2:41 left. But Mendoza connected with Becker in one-on-one coverage for an over-the-shoulder, 33-yard catch. There were times earlier this season

that Mendoza put the ball in harm’s way in big moments, but that didn’t happen against the Buckeyes.

“When the game was on the line, you know, Fernando was throwing dimes,” Cignetti said.

OSU finally got the ball back at its 10 with 18 seconds left.

The championship game marked a reversal from when the teams crossed paths in Columbus in 2024 and IU collapsed under all the pressure in a 38-15 defeat.

Cignetti even told reporters heading into the title game that he felt the moment was “too big” for the Hoosiers in 2024.

Those comments gave IU’s locker room added motivation to show their coach they had learned all the right lessons this season.

“All of us wanted to go out there,” Tucker said, “and put a stamp on the season.”

— Gene Myers contributed.

MENDOZA LINE

HOW REDSHIRT JUNIOR QB FERNANDO MENDOZA FARED

• Masterminded an offense that gained 407 yards in Indiana’s first Rose Bowl victory despite his second-lowest passing yardage and second-fewest passes attempted.

• Completed 14 of 16 passes for 192 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. His TD passes covered 21 yards (to Charlie Becker), one yard (to Omar Cooper Jr.) and 24 yards (to Elijah Sarratt).

• Sacked twice on Indiana’s opening threeand-out. Then connected on six straight passes. Also connected on his last seven passes.

• Rushed five times for 38 yards, three first downs and an 8-yarder that left a third-and-1 (followed by his TD pass to Sarratt on the next play). Lost 22 yards via three sacks.

• Provided another entertaining on-field postgame interview, this time to ESPN’s Holly Rowe. He singled out his offensive line: “Shout-out to the hoggies. The hoggies did fantastic today. Without them, we wouldn’t be 38-3. I believe our hoggies are the best hoggies in the nation. Not only a great group of guys but a great group of football players.”

Season totals: Passing — 3,172 yards, 240-for332 (72.3%), 36 touchdowns, six interceptions. Rushing — 256 yards on 77 carries (3.3), six TDs, 21 sacks.

team that hit harder, moved faster and played smarter than Alabama.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, an IU assistant in 2019, pinned his team’s hopes on a defensive strategy of blitzing Mendoza mercilessly, hoping he would cave. Spoiler: Mendoza doesn’t cave. He went 14 of 16 for 192 yards passing and three touchdowns, posting a 250.2 passer rating that was his fourth-highest number of a season that has been one high after another, all of it hurting so good.

A center as the MVP?

Makes perfect sense

In a season that has been borderline perfect — average IU score: 42-11 — this was the Hoosiers’ most complete game. Like, who gets the offensive game MVP? Mendoza threw a nearly perfect game and also keyed several drives with his deceptively shifty running. He can look like a newborn colt at times, wobbling around the field, but he was evading an Alabama defense full of four- and fivestar recruits with runs of seven, eight,

OPPOSITE: Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) holds the trophyThursday, Jan. 1, 2026, after defeating Alabama Crimson Tide in the 112th annual Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.

Grace Hollars/IndyStar

LEFT: Roses are dumped over Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti head as he lifts the trophy Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, after winning the 112th annual Rose Bowl game in Pasadena. Indiana Hoosiers defeated Alabama Crimson Tide, 38-3.

GRACE HOLLARS / INDYSTAR