Indiana’s offense was remarkably successful in just about every facet in Saturday’s 56-9 win over Kennesaw State at Memorial Stadium, but quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s success through the air looms as the most notable.
The Hoosiers had already proven they can get it done on the ground against Old Dominion with 309 yards and two scores. The passing game was far from bad, but none of Mendoza’s 18 completions for 193 yards ended up in the endzone.
Mendoza’s statline against the Owls? 18 completions on 25
attempts, 245 yards and four touchdowns. That’s the passing Indiana is going to need this season if the Hoosiers are going to get where they want to go.
The wildest thing? That line could’ve been better. Mendoza slightly overthrew a pass while scrambling in the first half that would’ve given the Hoosiers a first down and then some. Additionally, Indiana’s receivers were plagued by drops throughout much of that same first half, more than one of which probably could’ve resulted in six points.
Overall, Mendoza showcased all the things that made him a coveted prospect in the transfer portal and a candidate to go fairly early in next spring’s NFL Draft. He extended plays with his legs to get a pass off or pick up yards, kept the football out of harm’s way and largely put the ball in ideal spots for his receivers to make a play.
Those were never real question marks, he already put that on tape at Cal. The pressing matter going into this season was whether or not he’d be able to develop quick chemistry with his new receiving corps as Kurtis Rourke did in 2024.
Rourke had played quite a bit more college football than Mendoza by the time he started wearing cream and crimson, so that performance against Old Dominion where a few things were off by a hair wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Mendoza needed to shake off a bit of rust against the Monarchs and did so. Against the Owls, he looked very close to a fully-realized version of the quarterback many observers think he can be this season. Indiana could be in for another special season if it gets this version of him, or even the 90th percentile of this version, for some of the bigger games on its schedule.
