The Hoosier Nation entered the 2026 season wondering whether Josh Hoover could fill Fernando Mendoza’s massive shoes. Against North Texas in Week 1, he answered some of those questions, but not without taking a brutal cut to the face that left fans wondering whether Curt Cignetti should pull him.
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Indiana’s season opener took an unexpected turn Saturday when a North Texas defensive lineman, Udoka Ezeani, rushed Josh Hoover in the pocket and grabbed his facemask while trying to make the play. The move sent Hoover’s helmet spinning around, leaving the Indiana quarterback with a nasty cut and blood pouring from his nose.
Yet the injury did little to slow Hoover down. Blood kept dripping down his chin strap midway through the second quarter, but the TCU transfer stayed in the game and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to returning starter Charlie Becker, stretching Indiana’s lead to 21-3.
His advance was scary enough, but the real nightmare was that the injury came on the very first game of the season, sending the Indiana fanbase into panic and prompting calls for head coach Curt Cignetti to pull him from the game.
One fan questioned whether Hoover should have been allowed to continue playing after getting bloodied, asking, “Objectively, if he is dripping blood, shouldn’t he get checked out?”
Another fan called out the wrong call made by the referees on the play. “Please educate me – WHY wasn’t this considered a flagrant foul? I mean the player could’ve seriously injured Hoover,” the fan said. However, North Texas received a 15-yard penalty for the incident, but it wasn’t deemed serious enough to warrant a flagrant discussion.
Considering the severity of the incident, it shouldn’t have been Cignetti’s decision to take his QB1 out of the game. Instead, the crew should have asked the injured player to go out. “No concussion protocol? @NCAA,” one fan pointed out. Interestingly, another fan called out Hoover himself, saying, “Go to the sideline and get that sh-t cleaned up, corny.”
During the break, Hoover finally received medical attention on the sidelines. Fox sideline reporter Jenny Taft said he was evaluated for a concussion, detailing the tests trainers were putting him through. Well, the injury did affect his play a bit, as Hoover’s first incompletion came on a drive late in the first half after the incident.
Before that, he had completed his first six passes and guided Indiana to another scoring drive, which ended with a Nico Radicic field goal to put the Hoosiers ahead 24-6 with less than two minutes left in the half.
So far, the first game has shown that Hooer has all the weapons in his arsenal to lead the Hoosiers to the playoffs. More importantly, the incident highlighted that he also has Mendoza’s grit, which powered him to the Heisman award and the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft.