Silver And Black Pride on Fernando Mendoza
From the article
Mendoza was at Cal for three years and had two season as the starter before becoming a Hoosier. He played in four more games than Rourke, but posted a higher completion percentage (72.0 %) and threw just one more interception while leading the country with 41 touchdown passes
STACKED’s take
Mendoza outproduced Rourke at Indiana but scheme success doesn't guarantee NFL results.
Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick and the Raiders committed to him for at least two to three years. The source compares Mendoza to Kurtis Rourke, the Hoosiers' quarterback during Curt Cignetti's first season at Indiana. Mendoza played in four more games than Rourke, posted a higher completion percentage (72.0% vs. Rourke's 69.4%), threw just one more interception, and led the country with 41 touchdown passes (about 2.6 per game versus about 2.4 for Rourke), though Rourke threw for about 35 more yards per game. The source notes that while Cignetti's scheme helps quarterbacks succeed and Indiana was a good team with an NFL-caliber quarterback before Mendoza arrived, it took a special talent to elevate them into National Champions. Two quarterbacks in the same scheme were viewed very differently by the league, suggesting Mendoza's NFL success is not guaranteed despite his college production.
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