MIAMI — While quarterback Fernando Mendoza rewrote the Indiana football record books in 2025 with a Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff National Championship, his younger brother served as his backup.
Now, Alberto Mendoza is set to enter the transfer portal, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz’s report Tuesday morning.
Mendoza saw action in nine of the Hoosiers’ 16 contests in 2025 — mainly in end-of-game situations with the victory in hand — and completed 18 of 24 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 190 yards on 13 attempts.
Mendoza first committed to Curt Cignetti’s team in June 2023 when the head coach led James Madison University. Then, when Indiana hired Cignetti as its head coach on Nov. 30, 2023, Mendoza decommitted from the Dukes and pledged to the Hoosiers two weeks later.
Mendoza redshirted his first season in Bloomington after throwing just one pass and playing in one game. He played an instrumental role in Fernando’s transfer portal recruitment, as the latter noticed the development the former benefitted from in just one season under Cignetti.
Fernando, as older brothers often do, has said Alberto will be the better quarterback of the two. But the Hoosiers landed coveted Texas Christian University quarterback Josh Hoover, who is the presumptive starter in 2026 with one season of eligibility left, out of the transfer portal Jan. 4.
Alberto will now look to find a new home elsewhere, as Fernando appears to be the surefire No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
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.
