The Hype is Real.
Indiana football continues to rack up preseason accolades after the magical 2024 campaign, as a pair of Hoosiers – Elijah Sarratt and Fernando Mendoza – were named to the Maxwell Award Watchlist Monday.
The Maxwell Award, like the Heisman, is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the country every year, with the preseason longlist consisting of 80 candidates.
Mendoza has yet to play a down for the Hoosiers, having transferred in this past offseason after two seasons at Cal. Over those two years, he threw for 30 touchdowns versus just 16 interceptions.
Last season at Cal was when Mendoza really showed his potential, throwing for 3,000 yards and 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for a pair of touchdowns and broke off a 51-yard run against Wake Forest, so he’s more of a dual threat than Curt Cignetti had last year in Kurtis Rourke.
Considering the success Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan had last season in developing Rourke from a MAC prospect to an NFL Draft selection, the hype surrounding Mendoza is not surprising.
Sarratt played well enough last year at Indiana to earn second and third team honors for the All Big-Ten team, from the AP and coaches/media polls, respectively.
In 2024, Sarratt hauled in 53 receptions for 957 yards and eight touchdowns, all of which led the team. His eight touchdowns last season are tied for tenth all time for a single season at Indiana, and it was his first year at the high major level.
He also had the longest receiving touchdown of the season for Indiana last year, scoring on an 84-yard pass against Purdue, a game which he finished with 165 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Between these honors and the preseason All-America recognition that D’Angelo Ponds, Mikail Kamara, and, again, Sarrat, received earlier this summer, the Hoosiers looked stacked on both sides of the ball ahead of the 2025 season.