With a wink, Curt Cignetti shrugs off Sonny Dykes' criticism of new Indiana QB Josh Hoover
The Indiana coach pointed to the running game and defense as major assets for his new quarterback
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti defended transfer quarterback Josh Hoover after he was criticized for turnover issues during his time at TCU with some of his trademark wit.
Hoover, a three-year starter for the Horned Frogs, threw 33 interceptions over the past three seasons as TCU failed to get back to the Big 12 Championship Game. However, Cignetti expressed little worry for his new projected starter.
"He's got a body of work in terms of winning football games, passing yards, touchdown passes," Cignetti said. "Got to clean up some of the turnovers, which (TCU coach Sonny Dykes) made light of, but when he got here, he met his two new best friends: great defenses and a really good run game. And he was never the same after that." Cignetti gave a wink after that last line.
Dykes pointed to his turnover issues during an appearance on Frogs Today while speaking about the addition of new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis from UConn.
"I mean, I think you know that -- look, numbers are numbers, and stats are stats. And I think you know, you look for us, and I think Josh started 31 games here as a quarterback, and we turned the ball over 40 -- he turned the ball over 42 times in those 31 starts," Dykes said. "And you go, and you go, and you look at [Gordon Sammis] was the offensive coordinator last year at Connecticut, and their quarterback turned it over twice. And so, you know, I think that's where we want to get to, you know, you look at the teams that played for a national championship."
Dykes was correct that Hoover struggled with turnovers in key spots, a metric that only seemed to get worse as his career went on. As a junior, Hoover turned the ball over on 3.1% of attempts, the worst mark of his career.
However, Cignetti isn't wrong that TCU's offense got pass-happy under offensive coordinator Kendal Briles. Hoover attempted nearly 1,200 passes over the past three seasons, including 471 as a sophomore. Relatedly, TCU ranked No. 100 and 113 in rushing offense over the past two seasons.
During an interview with CBS Sports' John Talty earlier this offseason, Cignetti pointed out that Hoover is entering a different situation with the Hoosiers.
"Our offense will be a little different than TCU's offense," Cignetti told Talty. "They were about 58-60% pass, and that's putting a lot of pressure on a quarterback. Whereas even last year, we were 60% run, 40% pass. So you know that can only help the quarterback when you can run the ball."
During a run to the national title game, Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw the ball only 23.7 times per game, a vast decrease from his 35.1 attempts per game at California a season prior. As a result, Mendoza's completion percentage (68.7 to 72.0), touchdown percentage (4.1 to 10.8), yards per attempt (7.8 to 9.3) and passer rating (144.6 to 182.9) all exploded. Mendoza is now the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Hoover was rated the No. 11 transfer quarterback in the 247Sports rankings. He headlined a top 10 transfer class for the Hoosiers that also featured Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh, Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi and Boston College running back Turbo Richard.
