Indiana enters Saturday's homecoming matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers riding high after their 13-6 victory at Michigan last weekend, but the Hoosiers need to stack more wins to defend their Big Ten title. Indiana currently sits 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten play, narrowly behind the undefeated UCLA Bruins and 6-1 Ohio State Buckeyes, who beat the Hoosiers two weeks ago in Bloomington. Leading up to the Minnesota game, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti sat down with "College GameDay" and was asked about what's stood out to him about starting quarterback Josh Hoover, and the comparisons between him and Fernando Mendoza.
"I think it's inevitable that those comparisons are going to be made. I think Fernando may have had a few more weapons to work with in terms of depth and numbers. We have weapons certainly too, but we have some youth in some spots and maybe not quite as much depth," Cignetti said.
"He [Hoover] has done a good job of protecting the football. And you know, he did get dinged up a little bit against Ohio State, wasn't 100% last week. I think he's had a good week.
I'm looking to have a really good game today." More news: Kirk Herbstreit Raises Big Question About Ohio State Ahead of USC Game Hoover is a fifth-year senior who transferred to Indiana from TCU after four seasons in Fort Worth. He was a two-time team captain with the Horned Frogs and finished his TCU career with 9,629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns, putting him third all-time in program history in both categories. He's now on the verge of his best college football season yet with the Hoosiers, completing 62% of his passes for 1,741 yards and 18 touchdowns with just one interception through seven games.
He injured his throwing arm against Ohio State two weeks ago, but pushed through last week's win over Michigan. More news: Tim Tebow Delivers Powerful Take on Florida-Georgia Rivalry Before Annual Clash More news: Texas’ Steve Sarkisian Turns Heads With Harsh Criticism of the SEC The comparisons to Mendoza are bold, but also natural given Hoover's accuracy and ability to move the offense down the field. However, Mendoza won the program's first-ever Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to a perfect 16-0 national championship season.
That's a massive bar set by the now-franchise quarterback of the Las Vegas Raiders. After Minnesota, Indiana has a bye before hosting USC, traveling to Washington, and facing rival Purdue back in Bloomington. Hoover has the tools to lead the Hoosiers on another title run, but he'll need to show the injury is behind him and he can consistently deliver against premier opponents.
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