Numbers That Mattered: No. 6 Indiana vs. North Texas

Photo Credit: Olivia Smith, Hoosier Huddle Numbers drive so much in today’s world and the sports world is no different. Now more than ever teams are hiring and building analytics teams to get every edge possible over their opponents. Over the course of the season, we’ll look into many of those numbers following each of the Indiana Hoosiers’ matchups each week, so be on the lookout for that! Without further ado, let’s get into it: #1 ...is where Josh Hoover ranks among all Big Ten quarterbacks when it comes to Pro Football Focus passing grades from week one. He earned a 92.9 rating, which eclipsed Julian Sayin (92.6) and Jayden Maiava (92.0) as the two closest competitors. Hoover and the IU offense put together a near perfect game on Saturday. Hoover finished 13/16 with 231 yards and 4 TDs. If you had any concerns about the offense going into the season with the turnover at quarterback (and a couple of other positions), I truly believe you can put those to bed. This offense is going to be lethal all season long. 3% ...represents Indiana's Defensive Run Stuff Rate, per gameonpaper.com. This metric measures the percentage of an opponent's rushing plays that a defense stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. So, this means that just 3% of the time the Indiana defense stopped the North Texas rushing attack at or behind the line of scrimmage. Now, I'm not going to be a doom-poster here or bring you sensationalized takes based off of this number and the defense's performance from Saturday. Yes, there were more missed tackles than you'd expect from a Bryant Haines defense. Yes, there were some key injuries that North Texas exploited in the run game. Yes, there was significant turnover year over year on the defense and there's a lot to learn in this complex scheme. However, I am not concerned one bit. As it was widely reported, it was 152 degrees at field temperature, creating a blistering atmosphere for all players, but especially an Indiana defense that was on the field all the time. This wasn't because of poor offense and punts, it was because the Indiana offense (and special teams) was far too efficient (if you can be such a thing). It led to IU's defense being on the field for 67 snaps and 37 minutes of possession compared to the offense's 46 snaps and 22 minutes of possession. Nearly 20 extra snaps and 15 extra minutes on the field for Indiana's defense compared to their offense will tire you out in any setting, but especially in the heat from Saturday. There are certainly key areas to fix, but I am simply not concerned under this coaching staff until we see a clear and definitive trend. We will be okay, Hoosier fans. +66% ...Represents the lift in aDOT (average depth of target) that Josh Hoover put up against North Texas compared to his entire career at TCU. aDOT measures how many yards downfield a pass travels in the air on average when thrown to a specific receiver. At TCU, Hoover's aDOT hovered around 8.7. Against North Texas, Hoover's aDOT was a staggering 14.8. This means Hoover's receivers are running deeper routes, and, that Hoover is looking deeper in the first place. This more aggressive style of passing is a calling card of a Cignetti/Shanahan offense. It becomes possible with a skilled offensive line (thank you, Bob Bostad), extremely talented receivers, and, of course, an intelligent and gifted quarterback. Over the past three seasons, Cignetti and his staff have been in Bloomington (including this year), Indiana quarterbacks have seen increases in their aDOT. Kurtis Rourke's aDOT increased by 12% when he arrived in Bloomington, as he went from roughly 9.3 at Ohio to posting 10.4 under Cignetti and company. Fernando Mendoza, as well, saw a 17% increase in aDOT since donning the cream and crimson. At Cal, his aDOT was 8.4 and then increased to 9.8. If we apply a similar percentage growth to Hoover's aDOT (because 66% is far from sustainable), he ends up with an aDOT of roughly 10.0 for the 2026 season. I do believe we could see stronger increases and more aggressive play, however, as this is likely the best offensive line and wide receiver room Indiana has ever seen. It affords more room for Hoover and the passing attack to take more risks and gobble up more yards. I think we could see Hoover's aDOT land around 11.0 for the season, which would place him at top 10 in the country from 2025's aDOT rankings. Nonetheless, he is due to see significant growth from his TCU days and may very well be in line for some serious award recognition if things continue down this path. As always, thank you for reading! We'll be back next week with more numbers and takeaways from the Hoosiers' matchup against Howard this coming Saturday. Go IU!

Numbers That Mattered: No. 6 Indiana vs. North Texas

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