Indiana walked into its home opener as the defending national champion with a new look under center, and the first answer came quickly.
With Fernando Mendoza gone, the Hoosiers turned to highly touted TCU transfer Josh Hoover, and his debut started with a clean, confident strike. On Indiana’s opening drive against North Texas, Hoover hit Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh on a back-shoulder throw, and Marsh finished it with an impressive one-handed grab to put No. 6 Indiana up 7-0.
The early momentum kept building from there. Late in the first quarter, Indiana stretched the lead to 14-0 on a touchdown run by Boston College transfer Turbo Richard.
Hoover’s arrival matters because Indiana has now gone three straight seasons with a transfer quarterback leading the offense, following Kurtis Rourke and Mendoza. The expectations on Hoover are obvious after what he brought from TCU: he spent four seasons there, was ranked among the top 25 players in the transfer portal, and threw for 9,629 yards with 85 touchdowns for the Horned Frogs. One of his biggest nights came last year against SMU, when he threw five touchdown passes.
The opener came with a reminder of what Indiana is trying to replace. Before the game, the school unveiled a new exhibit outside Memorial Stadium that let fans literally trace Mendoza’s path to last season’s title. A patch of turf marked with a dotted line recreated Mendoza’s famous fourth-and-5 scramble for a touchdown that helped seal the College Football Playoff Championship against Miami nearly eight months ago.
Now the Hoosiers are trying to defend that crown with a new quarterback and a couple of transfer playmakers already making their presence felt.
In Other News...
Former TCU Quarterback Just Changed The Conversation At Colorado State
Hauss Hejnys first game as Colorado States quarterback did more than give the Rams a rivalry win over Wyoming. The former TCU passer, who transferred to Colorado State in January after a stop at Oklahoma State, stepped into his new role and immediately gave the offense a different feel, throwing for 214 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-13 victory.
Hejny also showed up in other ways, adding 39 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards on a trick play as Colorado State kept control of the game. For a quarterback still settling into a new program, it was the kind of debut that can change how a team talks about its future, and it leaves plenty of intrigue about what comes next in this offense. [Read more 🡒]
Former TCU QB Josh Hoover Faced A Scary Test In His Indiana Debut
Curt Cignetti had plenty of reason to sound confident before Indianas game against North Texas, and the former TCU quarterback backed it up quickly. Josh Hoover, now leading the Hoosiers offense, threw four touchdown passes and finished with 231 passing yards in Indianas 52-16 win, giving the transfer a strong first impression in his new setting.
Hoovers debut also came with a jolt that went beyond the box score. He took a hit that left him dealing with a nose injury and sent him through concussion protocol, briefly putting the focus on his availability instead of his production. Even so, Hoover stayed in the game, and Indiana will now be watching closely to see how he comes out of a day that tested both his poise and his durability. [Read more 🡒]