This season, Indiana is gearing up to defend their national championship. The Hoosiers shocked the college football world last season by going undefeated and winning it all. Outside of coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers are going to look a lot different in 2026.
For starters, they will be without Heisman winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza who was drafted number one overall by the Las Vegas Raiders. Replacing Mendoza at quarterback will be Josh Hoover, who transferred in from TCU for his final year of college eligibility.
However, it appears that not everyone was 100% sold on Hoover being able to replace a player like Mendoza. “It’s going to be a step down. He’s not going to be [Fernando] Mendoza,” said an anonymous Big 12 defensive coordinator, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. “I wasn’t a hater of his, but I thought he was a pretty average to slightly above-average guy. I don’t think he’s going to go there and win the Heisman.”
Of course, the coordinator didn’t put his name on it which makes me wonder who it was. Was it TCU defensive coordinator Andy Avalos? Possibly, but we will never truly know who the quote came from and I doubt Adam Rittenberg would be willing to tell.
While I think it was fair to say he’s not going to win the Heisman considering the fact that it goes to the best player in college football which I don’t think Josh Hoover is truly in that conversation. But who knows, maybe he ends up being better at Indiana than he was at TCU.
Even though Hoover’s numbers were down last season at TCU compared to his 2024 season that doesn’t mean he can’t go up to Bloomington and be great. He has a cannon for an arm and now that he’s under Curt Cignetti, maybe Josh does take that next step and becomes one of the best quarterbacks in college football.
