Indiana’s unbeaten start under head coach Curt Cignetti has not convinced everyone that the Hoosiers can repeat last season’s success without Fernando Mendoza. Analyst Colin Cowherd remains skeptical about their championship chances, arguing that the defending national champions look closer to Cignetti’s first Indiana team than the dominant squad that finished 2025 undefeated. Joel Klatt, however, sees reasons to believe otherwise.
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“He [Mendoza] was terrific in those moments,” Klatt said in a conversation with Cowherd. “…Well, [Josh] Hoover’s only had one of those moments, and he delivered in a huge way with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, one that was eerily similar to the touchdown pass Mendoza threw to Iowa late in that game in Kinnick a year ago.”
On the CFB on FOX, Cowherd and Klatt reviewed and discussed Indiana ahead of its massive October 17 game with Ohio State. Klatt believes that quarterback Josh Hoover and the team’s ability to deliver in a pressure situation against Nebraska offered a compelling answer to concerns about life after Mendoza.
Klatt’s point is about big moments, and he explained that Fernando Mendoza was at his best late in games where Indiana could not dominate on the ground, and he named Iowa, Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, and Miami. But he pushed back on Cowherd’s take, which rests on Mendoza.
Cowherd said this team looks closer to the first-year Indiana under Curt Cignetti than to last year’s champion, because last year’s group was so dynamic with Mendoza at quarterback.
“I don’t buy into Indiana quite yet this year… I buy into Ohio State,” said Cowherd.
The Iowa game Klatt mentioned at Kinnick Stadium is a good place to see what he means. On September 27, 2025, Indiana beat Iowa 20-15. Mendoza hit Elijah Sarratt on a 49-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give the Hoosiers the lead.
That was one of many big throws in a 16-0 season that ended with Indiana’s first national championship. Mendoza finished with 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns for just six interceptions, won the Heisman and went first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft.
On the other hand, Hoover is the one following him. He transferred from TCU after four seasons there and threw for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2025.
Klatt pointed to the Nebraska game on October 10, a 20-17 Indiana win that stretched the winning streak to 22 games, as Hoover’s moment. Through six games this season, Hoover has recorded 1,364 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and zero interceptions while completing 68.2% of his passes with a 200.7 passer rating.
“Now, whether Hoover turns into the consistent performer that Mendoza was in critical moments, that remains to be seen,” said Klatt, understanding the concerns as well, while staying with his point.
After the Nebraska game, former QB and Fox’s analyst Matt Leinart thinks Hoover is being overlooked and argued the quarterback deserves more Heisman attention, saying Hoover has better numbers than Mendoza did at the same stage and has not thrown an interception.
Indiana’s next game will tell us a lot more. The No. 5 Hoosiers host No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday. It’s a rematch of last year’s Big Ten title game, and Indiana won that one 13-10. Indiana is 6-0 this season, and Ohio State is 5-1.
Ohio State has the best offense in the league, averaging 42.7 points and 503.5 yards a game. Quarterback Julian Sayin has thrown for 1,772 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. Jeremiah Smith has 11 touchdown catches this year and 38 in his career. That puts him one short of tying the Big Ten career record of 39.
If Klatt is right, Hoover will get another late chance to prove it. If Cowherd is right, this may be the day it shows. One game will not settle the argument, but both sides will have something new to discuss by Saturday night.