Josh Hoover

#10 · QB · R-Sr. · Indiana6′2″ · 205 lb · Heath, TX · Rockwall-Heath

ZPR788th of 119 QBsHeismanNo. 5in our modelLast gameW 23–16vs Minnesota · Oct 31
Nextvs USCSat Nov 14 · time TBA

Out at half vs Minnesota; Grant Wilson played the second half.

W 23-16 in overtime vs Minnesota, Oct 31. 8 of 19 for 119 yards, a touchdown, an interception in the first half.

Indiana’s next game: vs USC, Sat Nov 14, 12:00 a.m. ET

Outlets are asking

Who starts vs USC?

Answered at kickoff, Sat Nov 14.

Indiana is 8-1 in the nine games played. A vertical passer who rarely runs.

Strongest: a touchdown on 8.0% of throws, 10th best of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,860

124 of 206, 60%

TD–INT

19–2

9.0 per throw

NCAA rating

164.5

18th of 119

ZPR

78

8th of 119

How ZPR works

One rough passing grade, at Michigan.

Best by our grade: at Nebraska. Lowest: at Michigan, with 1 interception. Biggest game: Ohio State, No. 4. Best play: Completion for 44 yards, touchdown, at Nebraska, Q4 7:13. Win chance 41% to 74%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Season

Gets better after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Vertical passer

Why this word
Runs2.1 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws10.8 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes60%FewerMore
Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws deeper than most and rarely runs. 2.1 carries a game. Closest matches: Mendoza ’25, Lonergan, Minicucci, Purdie.

Where the throws go

Behind the line7%typical 17%
Short44%typical 47%
Middle33%typical 22%
Deep16%typical 14%

Runs 2.1 times a game; 82% of starters run more.

Closest in style

Mendoza ’25LonerganMinicucciPurdieThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Mendoza ’25 Indiana 2025 · Chain-mover
    3,535 yards, 41 TD, 6 INT. Drafted in round 1 (No. 1 overall) by Las Vegas, 2026. Both score a lot and hit big plays.
  • Lonergan Rutgers · Vertical passer
    1,066 yards, 10 TD, 6 INT so far. Both rarely run and rarely throw behind the line.
  • Minicucci Delaware · Chain-mover
    1,477 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT so far. Both rarely run and are efficient.
  • Purdie Liberty · Vertical passer
    1,453 yards, 10 TD, 1 INT so far. Both throw deep and protect the ball.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordIndiana is 8-1, No. 6 in the AP poll (week 10).
  • Fans after Minnesota

    If you want Hoover you can have him.

    Indiana fan

What’s being said

18 stories this week, from 10 outlets.

Oct 29: 4Oct 30: 2Oct 31: 8Nov 1: 2Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1W 23-16 vs MinnesotaWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 8
Oct 29: 4Oct 30: 2Oct 31: 8Nov 1: 2Nov 2: 1Nov 3: 1W 23-16 vs MinnesotaWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 8
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

Indiana finally makes the QB change it resisted with Josh Hoover

USA Today +1 Oct 31

All 191 stories this season

Worth knowing

  • Josh Hoover spent four seasons at TCU before this one.
  • Josh Hoover is rated 88 overall in EA College Football 27, tied for 16th among the game's quarterbacks.

His most important play this season

  1. Q4, 7:13 · Indiana down 4, takes the leadJosh Hoover finds Nick Marsh for a 44-yard touchdownIndiana at Nebraska, week 6Q4, 7:13 · Indiana 20, Nebraska 17▲33%Indiana’s chance to win, 41% to 74%▲33%Indiana’s chance to win, 41% to 74%J.Hoover pass complete short left to N.Marsh caught at NEB31, for 44 yards to the NEB00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this playBig Ten Football

All 22 of his plays on video

The story

Written , before the 2026 season

At TCU he was a yardage machine — 3,472 yards, 29 touchdowns and a 65.9 completion percentage in 2025, on top of a single-season program record in 2024 and more than 9,500 career passing yards. Now he inherits one of the best landing spots in the sport: Indiana, where Curt Cignetti's CFP-tested offense just turned Fernando Mendoza into a Heisman winner.

Read the rest of the story

The pairing is the pitch — a high-volume veteran arm dropped into a system proven to maximize quarterbacks. The forward stakes are a sleeper Heisman run and a Playoff push, gated by the one flaw that has followed him: he's turnover-prone, with 13 interceptions in 2025. If Cignetti's structure tightens his decisions the way it sharpened Mendoza's, Hoover has the arm and the volume to be one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country. The talent was never the question; the giveaways are.

Sources