Josh Hoover gets his Fernando Mendoza moment as Indiana escapes Nebraska's upset bid

The Hoosiers quarterback rallied his team from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, showcasing flashes of what made his predecessor so special

Oct 10, 2026 at 4:11 pm ET • 3 min read

When a team finishes a season 16-0 and wins the national title, it's easy to forget about the close calls along the way, but they were there for Indiana last season. The Hoosiers found themselves in close contests on the road against Iowa, Oregon and Penn State during the regular season. In the national title game, they were up against it against Miami.

The common thread across all four games was the ability to overcome adversity and make the plays necessary to win. The needle to that thread was Fernando Mendoza. It's why he won the Heisman Trophy, and it's why he went first overall in the NFL Draft.

All offseason, the biggest question about Indiana's encore was how well Josh Hoover could fill Mendoza's shoes. On Saturday, in Lincoln, Nebraska, against a team and 90,000 Nebraska fans desperate for their moment in the sun and a return to relevance, Josh Hoover had his Mendoza Moment.

It was not a pretty performance overall. In fact, statistically, it was easily Hoover's worst performance since coming to Indiana. Hoover completed only 12 of his 22 passes in Indiana's 20-17 win, as he had to deal with a strong wind blowing through Memorial Stadium all afternoon. It caused him to sail throws to open receivers down the sidelines, and sometimes come up 10 yards short of them. Had he been able to make those throws in the first half, perhaps Indiana never would have found itself in the position it was in when Hoover helped save the day.

To Nebraska's credit, the Huskers did just about everything they had to do in order to pull off an upset. They dominated the ball on offense, running 83 plays to Indiana's 44. The problem was that they couldn't turn those plays into points. Not until Nebraska QB Anthony Colandrea suddenly found himself scampering through the Indiana secondary for a 39-yard touchdown run to give Nebraska a 17-6 lead with 12 minutes left to play.

As Nebraska fans collectively lost their minds, and the rest of us suddenly found ourselves wondering if this was really going to happen, Hoover and the Hoosiers' offense stepped back onto the field in the most adverse situation this 2026 team had seen all year. They wasted no time responding.

On the first play of the following possession, Hoover hit Nick Marsh on an RPO for a 75-yard touchdown. Just like that, the air had been sucked right back out of the stadium and replaced with a nervous tension.

You may recall that during the offseason, following critical remarks by his former coach, Sonny Dykes, about turnovers, Curt Cignetti pointed out he'd have something at Indiana he never had at TCU: defense and a run game. Well, the run game wasn't there, but the defense was, and it quickly forced a punt from Nebraska.

This time, the response took a little longer, but the result was the same. On fourth-and-2, the Hoosiers went with a play-action pass that mimicked the RPO that led to a score on the previous possession. And like that previous play, Nebraska's defense bit far too hard on the fake. Suddenly, Hoover found himself with not one, but two wide-open options to choose from in Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker. He chose Marsh again, and 44 yards later, the Hoosiers had their first lead of the game.

Neither touchdown was an incredible throw. In fact, they were both pretty easy reads and tosses to make, but the fact that Hoover was able to make them despite all the accuracy issues he'd had in the game, both of his own making and the wind's, showed the kind of short memory a quarterback needs in these spots. It'll also instill confidence going forward that he can make these plays when needed, and that confidence will probably be necessary a few more times.

Things don't get any easier for the Hoosiers next week when they host No. 5 Ohio State.