Indiana Hoosiers–No. 15 | |
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Position | Quarterback |
Class | ![]() |
Personal information | |
Born: | Miami, Florida, U.S. | October 1, 2003
Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
Career history | |
College |
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High school | Christopher Columbus (Miami) |
Fernando Mendoza V [1] (born October 1, 2003) is an American football quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers. He previously played for the California Golden Bears.
Mendoza was born in Miami, Florida, [2] and is the grandson of Cuban immigrants. [1] He attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. As a quarterback on the football team, Mendoza completed 133 of his 203 pass attempts for 1,396 yards and 16 touchdowns with four interceptions, while also adding 137 yards and a touchdown on the ground. [3] He originally committed to play college football at Yale University before deciding to flip to the University of California, Berkeley. [4]
Mendoza was redshirted during the 2022 season.
Mendoza earned his first career start in week 6 of the 2023 season against Oregon State. [5] He completed 21 of 32 pass attempts for 207 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a loss to the Beavers. [6] The following week, Mendoza went 10 of 17 passing for 149 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a loss to Utah. [7] Mendoza was named the team's starting quarterback heading forward. [8] [9] In eight starts as a redshirt freshman, Mendoza completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,708 yards and 14 touchdowns, leading the Golden Bears to a 6-7 record and an Independence Bowl appearance. [10]
Entering the 2024 season, Mendoza won the starting quarterback job for Cal, beating out graduate transfer Chandler Rogers. [11] In Week 2 against Auburn, Mendoza completed 25 of 36 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Bears to an upset win over the Tigers. [12] Mendoza was named ACC quarterback of the week in back to back games against Oregon State and Wake Forest, setting career-highs in passing yards and completions. His 56 passing attempts against Wake Forest were the most by a Cal quarterback since 2016. On December 11, 2024, Mendoza announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. [13]
On December 23, 2024, Mendoza announced that he would be transferring to the Indiana Hoosiers. [14]
Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
2022 | California | Redshirt ![]() | ||||||||||||||
2023 | California | 9 | 8 | 3−5 | 153 | 243 | 63.0 | 1,708 | 7.0 | 14 | 10 | 132.8 | 48 | 92 | 1.9 | 2 |
2024 | California | 11 | 11 | 6−5 | 265 | 386 | 68.7 | 3,004 | 7.8 | 16 | 4 | 144.6 | 87 | 105 | 1.2 | 2 |
2025 | Indiana | 1 | 1 | 1−0 | 18 | 31 | 58.1 | 193 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 110.4 | 6 | 33 | 5.5 | 1 |
Career | 21 | 20 | 10–10 | 436 | 660 | 66.1 | 4,905 | 7.4 | 30 | 16 | 138.6 | 142 | 224 | 1.6 | 5 |