Indiana football opened its 2026 season with plenty of questions on offense after losing last year’s Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Josh Hoover gave the Hoosiers a strong first answer on Saturday.
Hoover completed 13 of 16 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns as Indiana beat North Texas 52-16 at Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers only ran 46 offensive plays but finished with 365 total yards and averaged 7.9 yards per play.
“I thought Josh Hoover was sharp,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “When we dialed up what we dialed up, we had open opportunities and he delivered the football.”
Indiana got off to a quick start. Lee Beebe Jr. returned the opening kickoff 67 yards to the North Texas 20-yard line, and three plays later Hoover found Nick Marsh for a 15-yard touchdown.
Marsh made a one-handed catch around his defender in the back corner of the end zone, putting Indiana ahead less than two minutes into the game.
Hoover spread the ball around to seven different receivers, but Charlie Becker was his most productive target. Becker caught four passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns, including a 9-yard score in the second quarter and a 35-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.
Hoover’s toughness showed on the drive that led to Becker’s first touchdown.
After Hoover was taken down in the backfield, a North Texas defender was called for a facemask penalty that twisted his helmet around. Hoover came off the turf with blood covering his nose, mouth, chinstrap and pants, but remained in the game.
Indiana ran the ball on the next two plays, then Hoover came back on 3rd and 5 and delivered a 9-yard touchdown pass to Becker to put the Hoosiers ahead 21-3.
“I’m sure he earned the respect of his teammates based on his performance today,” Cignetti said. “And even though he’s a veteran, I’m glad he had a good opener.”
Hoover downplayed the hit after the game.
“It looked way worse than it felt,” Hoover said. “I didn’t even know it was bleeding like that.”
The deep touchdown to Becker came after Hoover escaped pressure and found Brock Schott for a 25-yard gain on 3rd and 9. On the next play, Hoover gave Becker a chance down the field, and Becker got in front of his defender to make the catch.
“They had a problem covering Charlie today, for sure,” Cignetti said. “We probably left a couple out there, too. Nick Marsh made a really nice play on the first touchdown. Tyler Morris made a few plays, got Davion Chandler involved. So the passing game in general was decent.”
Becker and Marsh gave Indiana an early look at what could become one of the more dangerous receiver duos in college football. Marsh only had two catches for 17 yards, but both catches were important, including the opening touchdown. Becker was the go-to downfield option for Hoover all afternoon.
Hoover said Becker’s ability to make plays in contested situations gives a quarterback confidence to throw the ball his way.
“I think that’s what makes Charlie special is just his ability to go up and get the ball,” Hoover said. “This dude’s a gamer. He’s got a different look in his eye when he’s out there. It’s fun for a quarterback to look out there and see a guy like that that’s just so competitive and wants to make plays.”
The Hoosiers had several other players make plays in the passing game. Tyler Morris had three catches for 35 yards, while Davion Chandler added a 42-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter. Shazz Preston added a 10-yard catch, and Schott’s 25-yard reception helped set up Becker’s second touchdown.
Hoover’s second-half performance stood out after North Texas cut Indiana’s lead to 24-13 on its opening possession after halftime.
Indiana answered with Hoover’s 3rd-and-9 completion to Schott and the 35-yard touchdown to Becker, pushing the lead back to 31-13. North Texas later cut the deficit to 31-16, but Hoover and the Hoosiers responded again in the fourth quarter.
On the opening play of Indiana’s next scoring drive, Hoover took another hard hit while throwing an incomplete pass. He stayed in the game and led the Hoosiers on a seven-play, 77-yard touchdown drive, finishing it by finding Chandler wide open down the seam for a 42-yard touchdown.
Indiana also got production from the running game, led by Turbo Richard. Richard had 58 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He added a 38-yard reception and had 59 kickoff return yards.
Beebe finished with 33 rushing yards, while Grant Wilson had a 43-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Cignetti said Indiana’s passing game was responsible for most of the offense’s big plays, even though the Hoosiers eventually found enough success running the ball.
“It was pretty obvious as the game got going that it was the pass game where the big chunks were,” Cignetti said.
Indiana scored on all four of its red-zone trips and did not turn the ball over. Hoover’s efficiency was one of the biggest positives of the afternoon, especially in his first game leading the Hoosiers’ offense.
“13/16, four touchdowns, no picks, no turnovers,” Cignetti said. “We’ll take that every week.”
Hoover said there will still be things to clean up when Indiana watches the film, but the Hoosiers showed how explosive their offense can be.
“My goal today was to come out here and just execute our offense, execute the plays that were called,” Hoover said. “That’s all I was trying to do is give those guys chances and they made plays.”
Indiana’s offense was not perfect Saturday, but its first game with Hoover under center gave the Hoosiers plenty to be excited about. With Hoover looking comfortable, Becker making plays down the field and Marsh showing off his ability early, Indiana’s passing game has the potential to be a major strength moving forward.
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