‘Long Way to Go’ – Mendoza Keeps Pushing to be Best Version of Himself
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The spotlight finds Fernando Mendoza in the Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium Don Croftcheck Team Room, a Zoom media session in full force, addressing questions on this unprecedented Indiana football season and his own unprecedented quarterback performance.
The second-ranked Hoosiers have never been 11-0 before, never been 8-0 in the Big Ten before, never been so close to making the conference championship game and earning a first-round playoff bye before.
No Hoosier has ever matched Mendoza’s 30 touchdown passes. His season statistics are spectacular – 73.0 completion percentage, 30 touchdowns against five interceptions, 2,641 passing yards, plus 216 rushing yards and five rushing TDs -- but his impact goes well beyond numbers.
“He’s a great leader,” linebacker Rolijah Hardy says. “I feel he’s the best quarterback in the country. He shows it by his play.”
It’s not just the cannon arm, the relentless preparation, the physical toughness to take hits and deliver bigger ones that elevates Mendoza as much as his ability to excel in the most challenging moments, to succeed after adversity hits because, as former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson once famously said, everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.
“There are a lot of games that I've been punched in the face, not literally, but some adversity,” Mendoza says. “That’s been a great learning lesson in how to respond to that punch. When they give you a jab, you duck. You might get hit by the jab, but you're going to give them an uppercut and knock them out.”
Mendoza got punched at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium and responded by delivering a game-winning knockout, just as he did at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium, just as he did at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, three of the most intimidating facilities in college football.
The result is Heisman Trophy talk, national championship talk, recognition as a finalist for the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Awards, but for Mendoza, for all the Hoosiers, nothing else matters but Friday night’s Old Oaken Bucket battle at Purdue (2-9, 0-8).
“I can't wait to get a bite at the rivalry,” Mendoza says.
We’ll get to that rivalry, but first let’s take a deeper look at the foundation for Mendoza’s late-game success.
He talks about childhood backyard football battles with younger brother Alberto at their Florida home when they’d pretend, say, the University of Miami was playing Florida for the national championship.
“Whatever the situation was,” Mendoza says, “it was high pressure. I know it sounds silly because it was in the backyard and not actual schematic football, but I think it’s helped throughout my journey.”
Then add growing up idolizing future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, who won a record seven Super Bowls.
“He was the man,” Mendoza says, “and he strived in those resilient situations. As someone who's dealt with a lot of adversity in high school, in the recruiting process, that's something I've always been able to fall back on.”
Mendoza’s did after fourth-quarter interceptions against Iowa, Oregon and Penn State that would have broken a lesser player. Instead, it fueled him. He responded with game-winning touchdown passes.
“I would say resiliency is a huge part of my game,” he says. “It's really about the performance. I meet with a sports psychologist every week. That's helped my game exponentially as we're always focusing on what we can control.
“The next play is what we can control. That's the most important thing. You can't control the last play no matter how hard you think or how hard you try. There's no time machine that you can go back in time.”
Beyond that, Mendoza says, “it's about having gratitude in the present moment, allowing your nervous system, whenever you're nervous in those particular situations, just say, hey, that's my body getting ready to play better in these situations. It gives my body more energy and more focus.
“Then it's controlling the controllables in the present moment rather than looking at the surroundings. Whether it's Penn State, Oregon or Iowa, the stadium is absolutely rocking, the ground is shaking, to focus on the moment and your technique and how you can control that play.”
Control includes preparation, which head coach Curt Cignetti calls the best he’s ever seen.
“It's because he wants to be great,” Cignetti says. “He's willing to make the sacrifices and put the work in and has the discipline to do it day in and day out. I think (quarterbacks coach) Chandler Whitmer has done a great job, too, of developing him and showing him the way.”
The result is a quarterback in contention to win the program’s first Heisman Trophy, and a team that has won 22-of-24 games under Cignetti, a stretch of success Indiana had never previously achieved.
IU’s “super power,” Mendoza says, comes from “togetherness,” from the bonding and blending of 100 or so individuals into one team, one purpose.
“It’s not just hanging out in the locker room, but hanging out outside of football, and being close and a band of brothers. That has established this team as a one-heartbeat operation.”
Mendoza was one of the nation’s top transfer portal quarterbacks when he left the University of California after last season. He called the transfer process a “whirlwind.”
IU had one big edge because Mendoza’s younger brother, Alberto, was a quarterback in the program and provided insight on the coaches and players.
The deciding factor was Cignetti and his track record of producing outstanding quarterbacks along with winning teams.
“I thought the other schools were going to have fantastic teams and fantastic outlooks on the season, and that's what they sold me on,” Mendoza says. “Coach Cignetti, on the other hand, sold me on being the best Fernando Mendoza that I could become. Whatever happens, I'm going to become the best quarterback. I don't know if we would be the best team, but I would be the best quarterback.”
That was the deal clincher.
“All I can control is being the best Fernando Mendoza quarterback and character that I can become,” he says. “That's what sold me. My reason for entering the transfer portal was wanting to develop and take that next step, that next growth.
“When he sold me on that, I knew it was a done deal. With my brother being here and being able to help me with the offense, the lingo, the terminology, and the whole aura of Bloomington, it was a no brainer.
“So far, it's been a good decision, but I need to keep on proving that decision right.”
Flashback to this early November moment at Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium:
Mendoza has become a sideline spectator, his helmet off, pressure over, watching his brother warm up before going in to wrap up a win over Wisconsin.
Whitmer is there, talking to the younger Mendoza first, and then Fernando, a moment of guidance and, based on the smiles, humor.
Whitmer, in his first season at IU after spending the previous four seasons working with quarterbacks in the NFL, has had a big influence on Mendoza’s development.
“I don't think I can put it in words how much Coach Whitmer has meant to me, not only on the physical standpoint, but also the mental standpoint,” Mendoza says. “He's one of the huge reasons that I'm having the season I've had.
“He's helped me go from a raw prospect to more refined. It’s the overall understanding of the game, the footwork and timing and anticipation, and how good players never get bored.
“You don't need to be a superstar. You don't need to make a superman play. You just need to make the right play with the right read with the right timing with the right technique. That’s helped me exponentially grow this year.
“There's still a long way to go, but we’ve made a good jump.”
The jump comes while directing an offense that Cignetti built and then refined with offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan. These Hoosiers lead the Big Ten in scoring at 43.3 points per game behind a balance of pass (259.6 yards a game, 34 touchdowns) and run (218.4 yards, 24 touchdowns).
Cignetti has had a decade-plus run of outstanding quarterback play, often with veterans recruited through the transfer portal. The reason, Mendoza says, comes from the high standard Cignetti expects from players and coaches.
“Coach Cignetti is a great institutionalizer. When the team is better, the quarterback plays better. He always holds us to a high standard, whether it's the quarterback, the offensive line, or the linebacker. That standard raises the tide for everybody.
“That's what makes so many quarterbacks are successful with him. Whether people want to say it or not, being a successful quarterback is a lot by situation. The situation that Coach Cignetti has coached and put his quarterbacks into has made them successful.”
“HeisMendoza” hype has built as IU’s victories have mounted, with students chanting it during home games.
Mendoza minimizes potential distraction with laser focus on the tasks at hand -- practice, preparation, the next game. He says he reached out to others, including Matt Leinart, the former Heisman winning quarterback from USC who is now a college analyst for FOX Sports.
The bottom-line advice – enjoy it.
“This is so special that although you can kick the can down the road,” Mendoza says, “enjoy what an honor it is and be grateful that you’re in this situation.”
When he hears Heisman buzz, Mendoza adds, he doesn’t overthink it.
“I don't have anxiety (thinking) what's going to happen here and there, what if, what if, what if.
“I never thought I'd be in this moment. I've got to be grateful for it and keep on chugging because all that matters is Purdue.”
This will be Mendoza’s first Old Oaken Bucket Game experience and he can’t wait.
“As soon as I got here, everyone talked about the Oaken Bucket, the rivalry with Purdue. They're a great football team on film and something to be taken extremely seriously.
“It's going to be a tough, gritty match. Just to experience it, to play against such a great team, such a great defense. It's an honor to play Purdue and see the alumni and how they harp on it.”
The goal, he says, is to retain the Bucket won from last year.
“We have to control the controllables to do so.”
And along the way, enjoy the moment.
“I wouldn’t say this is the pinnacle of my career,” he says. “I still have a long way to go. However, it’s great to be part of this opportunity.”