Fernando Mendoza, the Cal quarterback who led the Bears in an up-and-down 2024 season, is reportedly heading to Indiana in the transfer portal.
Mendoza’s destination was revealed Tuesday morning by several national reports, including ESPN, which reported he also visited Georgia and Missouri. His brother Alberto, a freshman, was a backup quarterback for the Hoosiers on their run to the College Football Playoff this season.
The 21-year-old Miami native entered the transfer portal on Dec. 11 and did not participate in the Bears’ LA Bowl loss to UNLV last week.
Cal finished the season 6-6 after a 3-0 start that included a road win at Auburn drew attention to the Bears and Mendoza. They proceeded to lose four consecutive games by a combined nine points to open ACC play before stabilizing to reach a bowl.
Mendoza’s second career win over Stanford came last month in an 11-point comeback that moved the sophomore to tears during a postgame interview after the Bears’ 98-yard drive to take a late lead.
Earlier this month, Cal coach Justin Wilcox said he had tried to convince Mendoza to stay, but Mendoza said in his transfer portal announcement on social media that he was transferring “for the sake of my football future.”
Mendoza joins a Hoosiers team that had the best season in program history, going 11-1 in the regular season under first-year coach Curt Cignetti with graduate transfer Kurtis Rourke leading the offense. The Hoosiers lost to Notre Dame last Friday in the first round of the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
Mendoza, who took over the Cal starting job as a freshman in 2023, steps into Rourke’s role after passing for 3,004 yards on 68.7 percent completion for the Bears this season.
The bowl game loss provided a peek at two of the options for Wilcox and new offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin in 2025. Fifth-year sophomore CJ Harris started the game but went out with an injury, finishing 13-of-20 for 109 yards. Highly touted freshman EJ Caminong relieved him but struggled, going 6-of-19 for 57 yards.
