With blood splattered on his jersey and facemask, Josh Hoover proved a worthy successor to the toughness of Fernando Mendoza in his debut as the starting quarterback for defending national champion Indiana.
Hoover, a highly touted transfer from TCU, rebounded from a bloody nose on a nasty facemask by North Texas' Udoka Ezeani that drew a 15-yard penalty with 8:24 remaining in the second quarter.
Three plays later, Hoover tossed his second touchdown, connecting on a diving grab by Charlie Becker to give Indiana a 21-3 lead.
It was the highlight of a command performance for Hoover, who completed 13 of 16 passes for 231 yards, four touchdowns at a 285 rating in the Hoosiers' 52-16 victory over North Texas. His favorite receiver was Becker, who caught another TD among his four reception for 64 yards.
Hoover now has nine games with at least four passing TDs, which is tops among active players.
"I thought he made significant strides from camp," Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. "I thought he played with a lot of confidence today."
Hoover's gutsy peformance was a throwback to the grit of Mendoza, whose legendary 2025 season in Bloomington was still being remembered by the Hoosiers faithful before the home opener.
Indiana unveiled a new exhibit outside Memorial Stadium that allowed fans to literally follow in Mendoza's footsteps to glory.
A patch of turf with a dotted line retraced Mendoza's famous fourth-and-5 scramble for the touchdown that helped secure the College Football Playoff Championship over Miami nearly eight months ago.
Heading into the 2026 season, a major question was whether Hoover could fill the big shoes left by Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
There was little doubt from the opening kickoff against North Texas.
On his first pass attempt at Indiana, Hoover connected on a back-shoulder throw to Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh, who made an impressive one-handed catch to put No. 6 Indiana ahead 7-0 on the opening drive. The Hoosiers went up 14-0 late in the first quarter on a touchdown from running back Turbo Richard, a transfer from Boston College.
Hoover marks the third consecutive season that the Hoosiers have turned to a transfer as the starting quarterback, following Kurtis Rourke and Mendoza.
After four seasons at TCU, Hoover was ranked in the top 25 players in the transfer portal. He threw for 9,629 yards and 85 touchdowns for the Horned Frogs, including a five-TD performance against SMU last year.
