Believe it or not, we are halfway through the 2026 regular season.
It seems like a good point to take a step back and compare quarterback Josh Hoover’s first six games at Indiana to Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza’s 2025 start with the Hoosiers.
Perhaps this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, since Mendoza did face at least one more difficult game than Hoover over the first six weeks of their respective seasons.
Both quarterbacks saw relatively light competition in the nonconference plus three Big Ten opponents through the first six games.
It would be reasonable to argue 2026 Northwestern is at least as good as 2025 Illinois, and 2026 Nebraska is on par with 2025 Iowa. But Hoover played at Rutgers, while Mendoza played at CFP-caliber Oregon.
In any event, here’s how the two compare at the midpoint:
Perhaps what is most notable — Hoover has 33 career interceptions, but none thus far at Indiana.
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Indiana is back to full strength in its secondary for the first time since the first quarter in week one. A.J. Harris saw snaps against Nebraska and could be in line to return to the starting lineup against Ohio State and its talented receivers.
A few weeks ago coach Curt Cignetti expressed frustration with how much practice Harris had missed going all the way back to the spring. Cignetti seemed resigned to the idea Harris wasn’t going to be a major contributor.
Clearly to this point Harris hasn’t panned out how the staff had hoped. But there’s still hope, and the timing of his return is pretty good.
Cignetti still needs the Penn State transfer to lock in on the details.
“He (Harris) hadn’t practiced very much (ahead of the Nebraska game) to be honest with you,” Cignetti said Monday. “He had an opportunity there in the second half, and there are some things to clean up. We had PI (pass interference) back there, but he’s played a lot of football. He has ability, and if we can get him screwed in assignment-wise to do the right thing play in, play out, he would be a good player.”
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Indiana brought in multiple talented linebackers in the class of 2026.
The one who has emerged thus far is Jacob Savage. The 6-foot and 225-pound Kentucky product looks like he could be the next in line to become a starter in 2027. Savage is following a similar path as Rolijah Hardy, who carved-out the third linebacker role as a freshman in 2024 and then started the next year.
“Really an instinctive player. Loves ball. Loves the process. He’s a football guy through and through,” Cignetti said of Savage. “He had a lot of tackles in high school. You knew he was going to do everything he could to be the best he could be. Over time, he’s worked his way on to the field in a significant role”
Savage his nine tackles so far, including 2.5 for a loss, and a sack.
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Indiana football has become a national ratings draw.
Yeah, you read that right.
IU’s come-from-behind win at Nebraska was watched by 6,734,000 viewers on FOX, the network announced Wednesday.
It was the most watched noon game on any network over the weekend, and one of the most watched noon games of the season.
The game peaked at 9,623,000 viewers, per Nielsen.
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