Fernando Mendoza quickly learned to not look forward to watching a highlight moment on film, or wait for a pat on the back from Curt Cignetti after a big play.
Instead, the micro-level critiques he heard after what seemed like a positive were burned into the recesses of his brain for later recall.
“Having spent a whole season with him, like when he’s riding me on all these things in fall camp, I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,'” Mendoza said on “The Rush with Maxx Crosby” podcast.
“And then in the season you see it show up. And it’s like ‘OK, that pass was completed by this much because I was at the right depth or because I didn’t take the extra hitch.'”
It would come to no surprise to Mendoza that his successor Josh Hoover is not being lathered with praise by Cignetti after his 13-of-16, four TD and no INT debut in Bloomington.
And it’s clear Hoover is already well aware that a good outcome is not always the result of a good decision.
Hoover was asked postgame after Indiana’s 52-16 win over North Texas about a 25-yard second half completion in a tight window to tight end Brock Schott on a roll out to his right. He answered with a wry smirk, like he knew what was coming in film review.
“Probably not one I’d like to do a lot of the time. Got away with it right there,” Hoover said.
Cignetti agrees.
“He got away with one that he’s not gonna get away with in Big Ten play,” Cignetti said of Hoover’s throw to Schott.
The head coach was just getting warmed up.
“And the one long touchdown to Charlie, he’s got to step into that throw better and get it out there and get it up and down.”
Even the play where Hoover ended up with bloody nose?
It was his fault. He’s got to do better.
“The one he got his helmet ripped off, he flipped the protection and really shouldn’t have. So he became unprotected to the side of the blitz,” Cignetti continued.
But his bloodied quarterback stayed in the game and threw a touchdown pass moments later. That was pretty cool, right?
“Even then, a hair late and made a little tougher catch for Charlie than it needed to be,” Cignetti said. “Great catch by Charlie.”
Hoover’s four touchdown, no interception Indiana debut was statistically far better than that of Mendoza in 2025 or Kurtis Rourke in 2024. Hoover posted a QB rating of 285 in his IU debut, while Mendoza’s was 110.4 in the opener, and Rourke’s 139.3.
Does Cignetti think Hoover is ahead of where Mendoza and Rourke were at the same time?
Not so fast my friend.
The head coach quickly reminds you of the defensive scheme North Texas used, the play calls IU countered with, and the ability of the wideouts.
“I think we won our one-on-one match-ups. They had a hard time covering us,” Cignetti said. “They were committed to trying to stop the run best they could. Came out in five down linemen. That was their goal coming in. They were going to try to do as good as they could against the run and take their chances against the pass, and we won our one-on-ones.”
Hoover knew exactly what he was getting himself into coming to Indiana to play quarterback for Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri. Their track record for quarterbacks speaks for itself.
The tough love, the critiques, the micro-details? This is what Hoover wanted, and what he knew he needed after four seasons at TCU under head coach Sonny Dykes.
“It’s a big culture shock coming to a place like this,” Hoover said. “That’s not a dig towards anyone else, but it’s just different the way coach runs it. I think it was a lot different from some of the things that were asked of me playing quarterback. It took time and I was not comfortable for a long time.
“Then, during this fall camp, we really started to hit our stride midway through, and I felt comfortable.”
Comfortable is not an acceptable word in Cignetti’s program.
And that didn’t last long for Hoover.
“Now, all of a sudden, you’re coming into game week, and it’s a whole new process of learning how to go through game week and how we prepare,” Hoover continued.
“Like coach preaches, it’s a continuous process. He’s always got tips and pointers. I really have so much respect for coach, and anything he tells me, I’m like, ‘Yes, sir, I’ll do it.’ He’s obviously an offensive guy and really, really smart. Anything that he says, I try to apply immediately.”
Sounds like a good plan.
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