Curt Cignetti reveals Josh Hoover’s key differences from Fernando Mendoza amid strong Indiana season

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The Indiana football team hopes to keep the wins coming on Saturday, with a game against Minnesota. Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti is revealing more about his quarterback, Josh Hoover. Hoover is getting compared to Indiana’s last quarterback, Fernando Mendoza.

Cignetti is explaining what he sees as the difference between the two quarterbacks.

“I think Fernando may have had a few more weapons to work with, in terms of depth and numbers,” Cignetti said on ESPN Saturday to Kirk Herbstreit. “We have weapons certainly too, but we have some youth in some spots.”

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I asked Coach Cignetti what sets Josh Hoover apart from Fernando Mendoza and last season’s national championship team 🏈⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Z4DOLGxXSe

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 31, 2026

Hoover will likely always be compared to Mendoza, as he is Mendoza’s successor. In 2025, Mendoza led Indiana to a national championship under Cignetti.

This season, Indiana is 7-1 on the campaign. Hoover has been incredible at protecting the football. He has 18 touchdown passes to just one interception on the campaign. The quarterback also has 1,741 passing yards.

“I look for him to have a really good game today,” Cignetti said of Hoover.

Hoover transferred to Indiana after playing several years at TCU. In both 2024 and 2025, Hoover threw for more than 3,000 passing yards for the Horned Frogs.

Indiana is hoping to once again reach the College Football Playoff under Cignetti. The Hoosiers are in great position to do just that. The team’s lone loss this year is to Ohio State.

Indiana enters Saturday’s game with just one loss since the 2024 campaign. The Hoosiers went undefeated in 2025. Indiana fans hope that Cignetti’s team can run the table and reach the Big Ten title game once again this year.

Indiana and Minnesota play Saturday at 3:30 ET. Minnesota enters the game with a 5-2 record.

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