In 2024 Kurtis Rourke was doubted because he came from the MAC Conference. Would his production there translate to the Big Ten?
Rourke finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting and led the Big Ten in QB Rating.
In 2025 Fernando Mendoza was doubted because he hadn’t put up big numbers and took too many sacks. Could he develop in the pocket and make the proper reads?
Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a 16-0 season and the national title.
In Curt Cignetti’s third season as the IU football coach, he’s bringing in his most proven Power Four Conference quarterback yet.
Josh Hoover has arrived in Bloomington as college football’s active career leader passing yards with 9,629. He’s second in active passing touchdowns with 71 — the exact same career total of Mendoza. Considering his high level of production at the Power 4 level, Hoover has the best incoming resume of any of Cignetti’s Indiana quarterbacks.
So surely no one is doubting Hoover. Right?
Well, ESPN’s Bill Connelly published his pre-spring QB rankings for all 68 Power 4 college football teams, and Hoover is nowhere to be found in the top-10.
To be fair, many of the quarterbacks listed ahead of Hoover at No. 13 are returning to systems they’re familiar with and have their own impressive college resumes. The list includes Ohio State’s Julian Sayin at No. 2, USC’s Jayden Maiava at No. 5, Oregon’s Dante Moore at No. 6 and former Hoosier Brendan Sorsby (now with Texas Tech) at No. 9.
But it seems like a mistake to question Cignetti’s quarterbacks.
Ben DiNucci (2019) and Cole Johnson (2021) both won the CAA’s Offensive Player of the year under Cignetti back when James Madison was an FCS school. In 2022 at JMU, transfer quarterback Todd Centeio won the Sun Belt Player of the Year, as did transfer quarterback Jordan McCloud in 2023.
No one will be surprised if Hoover exceeds expectations.
Here’s what Connelly had to say about Hoover at No. 13 on the list:
2025 stat line (TCU): 73.6 QBR, 3,472 passing yards, 29 TDs, 13 INTs, 65.9% completion rate, 12.8 yards per completion; 136 non-sack rushing yards, two TDs
Hoover has an impossible act to follow in succeeding Fernando Mendoza, but he proved more in his pre-Bloomington career than Mendoza had. That’s not to say another Heisman and title campaign are guaranteed, but Hoover is a high-level veteran who could lead another strong campaign. In 31 career starts, he has produced a QBR over 80 on 13 occasions and topped 300 yards 16 times. With 9,629 yards and 71 TDs in his career, he’ll also have a chance at finishing his career with 13,000 yards and 100 TDs. Not bad.
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