Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana football to play in the Big Ten, he said, and to play opponents like Illinois.
Now, the redshirt junior quarterback’s first chance has arrived. No. 19 Indiana and No. 9 Illinois will face off inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington in a nationally televised game on NBC.
Mendoza put together a dominant performance in Indiana’s final nonconference game against Indiana State University on Sept. 12, going 19 for 20 for 270 yards passing and five touchdowns. He also added a touchdown on the ground.
Still, he said postgame, he needs to take “another big step” forward come Saturday. The Fighting Illini enter the game 29th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense and fifth in scoring defense, allowing just 7.3 points per game.
Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, who’s in his third year in charge of the unit, delivered high praise for Mendoza during his press conference Monday.
“I mean, his arm is as live as live can get,” Henry said. “I mean, he has a nice, beautiful ball he throws. I think his downfield vision, his progressions that he make when he's in the pocket is absolutely incredible. I think this dude is an NFL quarterback for a bunch of different reasons, but his ability to throw the ball is absolutely incredible.”
Through the Hoosiers’ three games this season, Mendoza completed 72.4% of his passes for 708 yards and nine touchdowns — the most in the Big Ten. The Miami native has yet to turn the ball over.
Mendoza said he didn’t play to his standard in his Indiana debut against Old Dominion University on Aug. 30, as the offense largely failed to convert in the red zone. In Week 2 against Kennesaw State University, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Mendoza passed for 245 yards and four touchdowns. Still, he said he left opportunities for touchdowns on the field.
And while Mendoza earned a 94.3 passing grade against the Sycamores, according to Pro Football Focus, he faces an increased challenge against the Fighting Illini. No longer is he tasked with decimating a Group of Five or Football Championship Subdivision defense.
Now it’s a high-level Big Ten one.
“Everybody schematically is different, every opponent, and the personnel you're going to play against,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said in a press conference Monday. “He's made progress. Really pleased with the way he finished the game and the progress he had made since the opener. This is a new week.”
Illinois, conversely, has already faced a Power Four offense: Duke University on Sept. 6. The Fighting Illini had five takeaways but surrendered 438 total yards. They allowed Duke redshirt sophomore quarterback Darian Mensah — the seventh-best signal caller in the transfer portal (Mendoza was the fourth) per 247Sports — to pass for 334 yards and two touchdowns.
Before Illinois played Duke, Henry said Mensah is someone who will play in the NFL. Mendoza falls in the same category, he said.
“I've been watching this young man for a while back at Cal,” Henry said. “I mean, he makes some throws you're like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”
Through three games, Illinois blitzes quarterbacks at the highest rate — over 60% — among Power Four teams. They also play man coverage 54% of snaps, which is the sixth-highest rate in the country.
For as much success as Mendoza has had, he hasn’t graded well against blitz or man coverage, per PFF. He has a 75.5 grade against the blitz and 53 against man coverage, checking in at 46th and 144th best quarterback, respectively.
But when Mendoza isn’t blitzed, he’s the second-best signal caller in the country. And when he goes against zone coverage, he’s the third best.
Beginning with last season’s Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against the University of South Carolina, Illinois “morphed a little bit schematically,” Cignetti said. It has continued more of the same this season, using several personnel groupings.
“They did a nice job of disguising coverage, nice disguises,” Cignetti said. “They play a lot of guys. A lot of good players running to the ball. They have a lot of hats to the football. Put pressure on the quarterback, tight coverage. Really tied together well. Good players.”
Mendoza hasn’t carved defenses by himself, though.
He has what he described as “NFL players” catching his passes at wide receiver in senior Elijah Sarratt, redshirt junior Omar Cooper Jr. and sixth-year senior E.J. Williams Jr.
Indiana’s rushing attack has also enabled the pass game to succeed, including RPOs and downfield throws. The Hoosiers gained at least 300 yards in each of the first three games; however, redshirt freshman Khobie Martin will slot into the third-back role with Lee Beebe Jr.’s season-ending knee injury. Cignetti said “we’re going to need” Martin to contribute.
For the Fighting Illini to have a happy two-and-a-half-hour bus ride back to Champaign, Illinois, slowing Mendoza — a potential first-round quarterback — is essential.
“And so we got a tall task, again, I'm always trying to find creative ways to, you know, how can we change up pictures?” Henry said. “How can we get the things that we believe can be advantageous for us, you know?”
Cignetti, though, believes in his quarterback.
Saturday is Mendoza’s first chance at Indiana to prove his legitimacy as a top quarterback against a top team.
“But I have total confidence he'll step up and respond,” Cignetti said.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
