Fernando who?
That’s the kind of question Josh Hoover has made possible in Bloomington. Indiana’s newly installed starting quarterback has wasted no time making an impression after arriving from TCU in the offseason, and through six games he’s putting up numbers that stack up with, and in some cases outshine, Fernando Mendoza’s 2025 run.
No. 5 Indiana is off to a perfect 6-0 start after winning the first title in program history, and Hoover has been a major reason the Hoosiers have kept rolling. At 23, the transfer has settled in quickly under Curt Cignetti and has delivered production that looks a lot like the profile of a star, even if the spotlight hasn’t fully caught up yet.
Here’s how the two quarterbacks line up:
Josh Hoover vs. Fernando Mendoza stats
Josh Hoover, 2026: 6 games, 6-0 record, 200.5 rating, 88-of-129 passing, 68.2 completion percentage, 1,364 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 42 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown.
Fernando Mendoza, 2025: 16 games, 16-0 record, 182.9 rating, 273-of-379 passing, 72.0 completion percentage, 3,535 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 276 rushing yards, 7 rushing touchdowns.
The raw pace jumps off the page. Hoover is averaging more passing yards per game than Mendoza did, and he’s scoring through the air at a ridiculous clip, with touchdowns on 13.2% of his throws. The source comparison points out that Joe Burrow “only” had an 11.4% touchdown rate in 2019, when he threw 60 scores for LSU.
Just as notable: Hoover hasn’t thrown an interception yet. Mendoza, who put together one of the most efficient seasons in recent college football history, still had six picks in his Heisman year.
There’s a catch, of course. Indiana hasn’t faced a top-25 opponent yet this season. The Hoosiers did get through Northwestern, which has since cracked the top 25, but for the most part Hoover and company have been handling teams they were expected to beat.
That softer opening stretch has kept Hoover from drawing the kind of Heisman buzz that usually follows numbers like these. But that could change fast.
Indiana gets No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday, and that game gives Hoover a real stage to make his case.
If he keeps producing against the Buckeyes and later against USC, the Hoosiers’ latest quarterback could force his way into the same kind of conversation Mendoza occupied down the stretch last season.
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