Colin Cowherd on Indiana: Under Curt Cignetti, the offense is a 'BB gun' without Fernando Mendoza

Colin Cowherd loves Curt Cignetti, but feels Indiana already hit their ceiling and the 2026 version pales in comparison to last year’s squad. Naturally, there’s likely to be a drop off from a 16-0 national championship team. But Cowherd pointed towards No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to their highest of highs. He was sandwiched in between QBs like Kurtis Rourke (2024) and Josh Hoover and Grant Wilson (2026). $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage “I will say, and I say this as somebody who works for a company that has their arms around the Big Ten, I think the Curt Cignetti story is awesome. I think it’s been a little overplayed,” Cowherd said Wednesday. “I thought he got about 90% of the credit for their national championship, and I think Mendoza deserved at least half of it. Under Cignetti, the offense is a BB gun without Mendoza. They schedule weak out of conference, but his record is otherworldly. It’s 35-3 as he took over a bad program. “He’s a really really good coach, but he’s not (Nick) Saban. Saban, both sides of the ball. Players became irrelevant at Alabama. Offense, defense, you couldn’t separate them. They were great at both. That’s not what Indiana is. He sets a very high floor foundationally and culturally. Mendoza was the ceiling.” Curt Cignetti stuck in neutral without Fernando Mendoza? Last season, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 72% completion percentage on his way to a Heisman Trophy. Hoover and Wilson (nine games) have combined for 2,090 yards, 22 touchdowns, two interceptions and roughly a 60% completion percentage. But they do have a loss this year to a ranked Ohio State team that was at full strength (prior to Julian Sayin’s injury). Going back to 2024, Cignetti’s first year, they also lost to Ohio State and then Notre Dame in the first round of the CFP. “If you look at Indiana against ranked opponents under Curt Cignetti, when Mendoza played, they averaged 38 a game and win by three touchdowns,” Cowherd said. “Without Mendoza, including this year, they’re 0-3 and they score 15 points. “They’re over double the offense with Fernando Mendoza, now a Raider, than they are without it. Cignetti is super conservative. Nick Saban was not offensively. Cignetti’s really conservative. He’s not the recruiter (like) Saban. I think he’s a very, very good coach. But he got an incredible amount of love on that 16-0 team that could have easily lost five games if Mendoza wasn’t the quarterback.”