Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers have put on a season for the ages in the NCAA. However, everything Curt Cignetti and company have ever cared for is still one win away. As Indiana takes on the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship, on Bolavip we take a look at the Hoosiers’ depth at the quarterback position.
Backup quarterbacks in college football must always be alert and with their head in the game. At any given moment, their number may be called up. When it comes to Indiana, their QB situation may be unlike any other in the NCAA.
The Hoosiers know their best chance at hoisting their first national championship lies in the hands of the Heisman winner, Fernando Mendoza. However, Cignetti may be just as confident in his program’s backup as he has been cut from the same cloth as Fernando.
Indiana’s second-string quarterback is none other than Alberto Mendoza, Fernando’s younger brother. The third stringer is Old Dominion senior transfer Grant Wilson.
Alberto Mendoza’s journey
Although it took a while for Fernando to make his way to the school in Bloomington, Alberto jumped directly from Christopher Columbus High School (Miami, FL) to Indiana University.
Alberto was ranked a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class and is now classified as a redshirt freshman. So far in the 2025 NCAA campaign, Mendoza has made several appearances late in games thanks to his brother and teammates blowing out almost every opponent in college football.
The youngest Mendoza at Indiana has completed 18 passes for 256 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. In that regard, Alberto Mendoza has a bit more of experience than Miami’s backup quarterback behind Carson Beck, Emory Williams, who has rarely seen the field this year.
However, Alberto Mendoza has never seen the field in a game in which the opponent scored more than 10 points. Barring a crisis at the quarterback position, Alberto Mendoza won’t be thrown into the fire at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Mendoza brothers return to The Magic City
Fernando and Alberto Mendoza don’t care how many fans will be attending the National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium—they know they have something to prove to their hometown.
Back in the 305 to take on the Hurricanes in Miami Gardens, with the most coveted silverware in college football on the line, represents everything the two brothers have ever dreamed of. Needless to say, it’s set to be a memory the Mendoza brothers—and their family—will never forget.
Now, it’s about proving that one can indeed be a prophet in their own land — though in a different way — and that Miami made a costly mistake by not offering scholarships to the Mendoza household.