Fernando Mendoza finished the 2025 season on top of the college football world as the Heisman-winning quarterback of Indiana’s national championship team, but it didn’t take him long to realize that the NFL is a much different beast. Mendoza started Thursday night’s preseason game against the Texans and saw his third pass of the game be intercepted for an 80-yard touchdown by Houston linebacker Wade Woodaz. Mendoza, who would end his night going 8 of 15 for 86 yards, said after the game that “it wasn’t a good pass” to fullback Connor Heyward and that it taught him a lesson about how “a small mistake can lead to a catastrophe.” “I was left with the idea that there is a lot more to learn, and that although you may have had a lot of success at another level, this level is a step further,” Mendoza said, via Sam Warren of TheAthletic.com. The inevitable learning curve Mendoza must face upon entering the NFL and Thursday night showed that he is still at the beginning of that process. The next big question for the Raiders is how long it will be before he remains in the starting lineup for meaningful games.
