Indiana football quarterback Josh Hoover put his palm to his face and lay on the Merchants Bank Field turf. Moments earlier, a University of North Texas defender gripped Hoover’s face mask as the redshirt senior scanned the field during the Hoosiers’ season opener Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Hoover’s helmet rotated 180 degrees and was ripped off his head before hitting the turf. The sold-out, buzzing home crowd went quiet, waiting for Hoover, who was in just the second quarter of his Indiana debut, to pop up.
Not long after, he did.
The quarterback’s once-clean chin strap was stained red. Despite blood continuing to trickle down his face, Hoover remained in the game.
“I feel like he got that warrior spirit,” junior running back Turbo Richard said about Hoover postgame. “You know, that’s also inspirational to see. Even myself, If I’m hurt... just look at Josh (Hoover). Like he’s playing with a bloody face. So, it was like, ‘Yeah, I gotta keep going.’”
Three plays later, Hoover fired a 9-yard touchdown to the leaping junior wide receiver Charlie Becker. This was one of Hoover’s four touchdown passes to power Indiana to a 52-16 victory over North Texas on Saturday.
Stepping into the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback role vacated by Fernando Mendoza, Hoover entered the 2026 season with high expectations.
Even Mendoza, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy and became the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, did not have the Indiana debut fans may have imagined. Mendoza completed just 18 of 31 pass attempts for 193 yards and zero touchdowns against Old Dominion University last year.
With Mendoza’s departure, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti added Hoover via the transfer portal. In four seasons at Texas Christian University, Hoover accumulated 9,629 passing yards –– the most by any active FBS quarterback in a career.
Hoover’s experience at the collegiate level showed in this season’s opener against North Texas, with the signal caller turning in a “sharp” performance, Cignetti said postgame.
The 6-foot-2 quarterback approached his debut with a simple objective.
“Yeah, I think my goal today was to come out here and just execute our offense, execute the plays that were called,” Hoover said postgame. “That’s all we had to do, is just do our job.”
He executed immediately, helping the Cream and Crimson reach the endzone on their first possession of the game.
After a 67-yard kickoff return by redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr., the Indiana offense was set up at the North Texas 20-yard line. Richard earned back-to-back carries, collecting 5 yards as the Hoosiers faced a third and 5.
Hoover dropped back for his first regular season throw in a Hoosier uniform, targeting Michigan State transfer and junior wide receiver Nick Marsh. The quarterback placed the football on Marsh’ back shoulder.
Marsh made a play on the ball, extending his right arm down to reel in a 15-yard touchdown with one hand.
Becker, who experienced a breakout season with Mendoza under center last year, caught Hoover’s next two touchdown passes. After the 9-yard score from his bloodied quarterback, the duo connected from farther out.
At the North Texas 35-yard line with about 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Hoover launched the ball down the sideline to Becker. The wide receiver made an adjustment to pull in a 35-yard touchdown catch, bringing the Hoosiers’ advantage to 31-13.
But perhaps Hoover’s best play of the afternoon came on the previous play. Facing rare pressure from the North Texas defensive front on a third and 9, the former TCU quarterback rolled to his right. He rifled a throw downfield to sophomore tight end Brock Schott, who made a catch in traffic for a 25-yard gain.
“Brock made a great catch,” Hoover said. “Probably not one that I’d like to try and do a lot of the time. But, got away with it right there and I think, you know, made a play on a crucial down, crucial drive, scored the next play. So, it was a big play for the sequence of events in the game.”
Hoover found sophomore wide receiver Davion Chandler for his fourth and final touchdown pass of Saturday’s season opener. Chandler streaked open down the middle, while Hoover hit him in stride for a 42-yard touchdown.
With Indiana holding a significant lead, seventh-year quarterback Grant Wilson entered in the fourth quarter to replace its starter. Hoover was efficient in his debut despite taking a shot to the face early, not throwing an incomplete pass until under two minutes remained in the second quarter.
He ended his day with 13-of-16 passing, 231 yards and four touchdowns through the air.
“I thought he played well,” Cignetti said postgame. “I’m sure he earned the respect of his teammates based on his performance today.”
While Hoover performed in his first game, the veteran quarterback recognizes there’s still room to grow and improve within the system.
“We’re still early on in this process,” Hoover said postgame. “You know, I’ve only had, and it’s our first game and probably had 30 practices, right? So, it’s just to continue to develop in the offense and understanding every single detail of the offense.”
Hoover will look to build off his opening performance when the Cream and Crimson face Howard University at noon Sept. 12. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a name.
