Awarded to the outstanding player in college football, the Maxwell Award announced its preseason watch list Monday, with Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza and wide receiver Elijah Sarratt each among the 80-player contingent.
Indiana is one of just 16 programs to have multiple players on the preseason watch list.
Semifinalists will be announced November 11 and the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled November 25. The winner of the 89th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN College Football Awards Show held on December 11.
Legendary IU football star Anthony Thompson won the Maxwell Award in 1989.
With 20 career games played and 19 starts over three seasons at Cal, Mendoza was the No. 14 overall prospect in the Transfer Portal and No. 3 quarterback per 247Sports for the 2025 cycle. He finished his career at Cal as the all-time leader in completion percentage (66.4%) and tied for No. 7 in 250-yard passing games (10). His 2024 season produced just the ninth 3,000-yard passing season in Cal history (3,004 yards) and a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.
An all-conference performer in each of his three collegiate seasons, Sarratt was a third-team All-Big Ten pick in 2024 after he ranked top-40 nationally in receiving touchdowns (No. 36; 8) and receiving yards (No. 35; 957), with both totals top-10 in program history. He graded as the No. 4 receiver in the Big Ten and No. 13 in Power 4 (80.8) per Pro Football Focus (min. 500 snaps) and set an IU record for yards receiving in the Old Oaken Bucket win over Purdue (165 yards).
The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 and is the oldest football organization of its kind in America. The Club recognizes excellence in performance at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of the game. The Maxwell Club is also deeply involved and fully vested in the community through programs to promote academic excellence, community volunteerism, and leadership.
The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 900 recipients since 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.
Indiana opens the 2025 season on Aug. 30 against Old Dominion in Bloomington.
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