We have a new quarterback
Not even a day has gone by after the Mendoza family begun celebrating their historic national championship win at Indiana before there were 0 remaining Mendoza’s left at Indiana. Hoosier backup QB Alberto Mendoza, brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, announced today he is transferring to Georgia Tech.
While the transfer portal had closed last week, players on national championship teams were given an extended window after the completion of their seasons. He will have to enroll by the end of the week to complete the transfer.
Mendoza joins a quite inexperienced quarterback room under Tech QB coach Chris Weinke, which until today had redshirt freshman Graham Knowles as the presumed starter with no one having come in the portal. Mendoza will have three years of eligibility left.
Mendoza appeared in eight games this season, all in garbage time situations. He threw two touchdowns against Indiana State and two against power 4 competition (Maryland and Purdue). Alberto never appeared in a game this season for Indiana where they allowed more than 10 points.
Alberto represents the second outside quarterback under Brent Key expected to compete for the starting job. Knowles and current third-string QB Grady Adamson all received great accolades coming out of high school, but opportunities for them were always going to be limited sitting behind Haynes King and now Florida QB Aaron Philo.
The important thing is that we got a guy. After the loss of Philo, how Tech was going to answer the quarterback question was a massive looming factor over 2026 transfer portal window. In Mendoza, we just might get another guy who can play three years and be built around by head coach Brent Key and offensive coordinator George Godsey. At best, we’ve got a guy who can get us to that 8-9 win mark that feels like the ceiling for the program right now. At worst, it’s Knowles time. It could be a lot worse.
Category: General Sports
