Indiana news: Fernando Mendoza’s replacement gets Curt Cignetti warning

Replacing Fernando Mendoza won’t be easy for Josh Hoover. Fortunately, Indiana isn’t asking its new quarterback to become Mendoza overnight.

Hoover arrives in Bloomington after playing at TCU and will take over an offense with plenty of talent surrounding him. But ESPN analyst Dusty Dvoracek believes there is one non-negotiable when playing quarterback for Curt Cignetti: protect the football.

“You can’t turn the football over and make mistakes and play for Curt Cignetti,” Dusty Dvoracek said. “It just won’t happen. Here is the great news for Josh Hoover: he’s going to have such a great supporting cast around him. He’s not going to be asked to do too much.”

“He’s not going to be asked to be doing the same things he did at TCU. There will be one thing he will be asked to do, and that is to make plays late in big games. We saw Mendoza do that a season ago. He’s gotta step up and be willing to make those plays.”

Cignetti has transformed Indiana into one of college football’s premier programs by demanding disciplined football, and quarterback play is at the center of everything the Hoosiers do.

Indiana has reached a point where simply winning eight or nine games isn’t the standard anymore. The Hoosiers expect to compete for the Big Ten and return to the College Football Playoff.

Hoover doesn’t have to be Mendoza. He needs to protect the football, trust the talent around him, and deliver when Cignetti puts the game in his hands. If he can do those three things, Indiana might not experience much of a drop-off at quarterback at all.

Dvoracek isn’t the first person to say this about Hoover this week. A Big 12 coach said something similar as well about Hoover not needing to be Mendoza. This may be something he hears all season long.