Football
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Following Friday’s season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, Indiana wasted no time in finding a replacement for Kurtis Rourke at quarterback for the 2025 season.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, California transfer Fernando Mendoza has committed to the Hoosiers.
Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247Sports added Mendoza was the top-ranked uncommitted quarterback in the transfer portal.
Per 247Sports’ transfer rankings, Mendoza is a 4-star prospect and the third-ranked overall quarterback in the portal. He was behind Oklahoma commit John Mateer and Mississippi State commit Luke Kromenhoek.
Mendoza announced on Dec. 11 he was entering the transfer portal after two seasons at Cal. He took over as the starter midway through his freshman season, finishing with 1,708 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in nine games.
As the full-time starter entering the 2024 season, Mendoza turned in a terrific performance for the Golden Bears. He threw for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and ranked second among all ACC quarterbacks with a 68.7 completion percentage in 11 games (min. 200 attempts).
Quarterback was a big question for the Hoosiers going into next season. Rourke, who tied for the Big Ten lead with 29 touchdown passes and finished third with 3,042 passing yards in 12 starts.
It will be very interesting to see what head coach Curt Cignetti is able to do with Indiana’s roster in recruiting coming off the best season in program history.
The Hoosiers rank 14th among 18 Big Ten teams as far as their incoming 2025 class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. The transfer portal is more promising with the seventh-best class in the conference, with Mendoza the top-ranked player in the group.
Mendoza’s arrival figures to raise the ceiling for the team next year after he played well for a Cal team that’s not overflowing with talent.
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