Indiana's awful CFP showing could cost Curt Cignetti his ideal transfer portal target

Indiana's dream 2024 season came to a nightmarish end on Friday night, as Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers were thoroughly outclassed in a 27-17 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff. And frankly, the game wasn't nearly as competitive as that final score would suggest: Indiana's typically explosive offense had absolutely nothing for the Irish all night, scoring twice in garbage time to make things appear more respectable.

It was about as total a beatdown as you're likely to see in a matchup between two top-10 teams, one that's likely to reopen all sorts of questions about how Indiana made it into the final CFP field in the first place and whether they truly belonged despite their gaudy 11-1 record. But the Hoosiers lost much more than their season on Friday night. Lose like that, with the whole nation watching, and your reputation is bound to take a hit. And in our new transfer portal world, your reputation is everything, which could come back to haunt Indiana with one target in particular.

Indiana's CFP blowout could cost them an ideal QB target in the transfer portal

Cignetti portaled the Hoosiers to this point in the season, completely overhauling what had been a dire roster in the final season of Tom Allen's tenure. But the thing about the transfer carousel is that once you're on it, it becomes awfully hard to get off — and sure enough, Cignetti now finds himself in need of landing another big class this winter to replace some of his most important players.

Most important among them is QB Kurtis Rourke, the engine behind the country's No. 1 scoring offense. Rourke is now out of eligibility and is off to the NFL Draft, meaning Indiana needs to find a replacement who'll be ready to hit the ground running in 2025. It appeared that Cignetti had identified his man, as Indiana had welcomed former Cal QB Fernando Mendoza to Bloomington for an official visit earlier this week.

Mendoza had a bit of an up-and-down career in Berkeley, but he flashed some big-time upside over the past two years as a starter for the Golden Bears. Much like Rourke, he brings accuracy, a good-enough arm and just enough dual-threat ability to operate Indiana's RPO-heavy offense. And, most importantly, he's got significant Power 4 experience, and Cignetti wouldn't have to worry about getting him up to speed in the Big Ten.

So what's the problem? Well, Friday night is the problem. In addition to Indiana, Mendoza is also reportedly considering teams like UCLA (set to hire his former QB coach, Tino Sunseri, as its new OC) and Georgia, which missed out on Dylan Lonergan in the transfer portal earlier this month and is looking to add depth at the position. And if Mendoza was watching the performance against Notre Dame, he couldn't have been thrilled about Indiana's outlook for 2025 and beyond.

Cignetti is a proven closer in these sorts of situations, but it's worth noting that many of his transfers from last offseason came with him from James Madison. He's still a one-year wonder at this level until proven otherwise, and you couldn't blame Mendoza if he decides he'd be better off at a more stable program to finish out his career.