The Indiana Hoosiers are the defending national champions. They built that title team mainly through the Transfer Portal. Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman and will likely be the number-one overall pick in the Draft, came to the Hoosiers that way, too.
This year, the Hoosiers brought in Josh Hoover from TCU to be the starting quarterback. When that happened, Sonny Dykes, TCU’s coach, essentially said Hoover turned it over too much. He made it seem like they wanted him to leave through the portal.
Curt Cignetti is not having it. After leading Indiana to a national championship in just his second year on the job, he is standing by Hoover.
Indiana Hoosiers Coach Goes After Sonny Dykes for Josh Hoover Comments
While talking to the media after spring practice, Cignetti made sure to have his quarterback’s back. He fired back at Dykes, implying that the team around him at TCU stunk, so he had to take more chances.
“We’re excited about Josh, first of all, let me be clear about that. He’s got a body of work in terms of winning football games, passing yards, touchdown passes. Although, got to clean up some of the turnovers, obviously, which Coach Dykes made light of. But when Josh got here, he met his two new best friends: a great defense and a really good run game. And he was never the same after that.”
Cignetti clearly was taking a shot at the team that Dykes had built around Hoover. Last season, TCU was 73rd in the country in total yards allowed per game, allowing over 378 yards. When the defense is playing that poorly, Hoover probably thought he had to score every time he touched the ball.
Conversely, IU had the fourth-best defense in the nation. Cignetti believes that an improved defense will allow Hoover to take better care of the ball because he won’t be trying to do too much. That will be key, although the Hoosiers lose a lot of talent from that great defense.
The Hoosiers Have Full Confidence in Josh Hoover
Hoover is someone that Cignetti targeted early on. Cignetti clearly believes that he has the talent to keep Indiana as one of the best teams in the country. Cignetti also mentioned that having a better run game will help Hoover avoid the mistakes he made in Fort Worth.
Last year, TCU was ranked 100th in the country in rushing yards per game, only gaining 131.4 yards per game. Meanwhile, Cignetti had the Hoosiers gaining yards on the ground with ease. The Indiana Hoosiers ranked 12th in the country, running for over 218 yards per game.
Cignetti has earned a reputation as one of the best coaches in the country. If he thinks Hoover is the best quarterback to run his offense, he has earned that trust. He clearly doesn’t care what other people think of him or his talent evaluations.
Indiana will likely begin the season as a preseason top-10 team as the defending national champions. Going undefeated again will be tough, though.
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