Indiana football made a QB change vs. Minnesota. What comes next for Josh Hoover, Grant Wilson?
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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti didn't offer any real clarity on his quarterback situation while making an appearance on his weekly radio show during the off week.
On Wednesday night, IU broadcaster Don Fischer asked Cignetti about starting quarterback Josh Hoover's "status" coming out of a 23-16 overtime win over Minnesota.
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Grant Wilson replaced Hoover for the second half and made several key throws to help the No. 4 Hoosiers (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) hold off the upset-minded Gophers. On the first play of overtime, Wilson threw the go-ahead score to Charlie Becker.
Indiana will host No. 17 USC (7-2, 4-2) in a pivotal game on Nov. 14 after the off week.
“He got dinged up against Ohio State, everybody saw that," Cignetti said of Hoover. "And it’s been a struggle. And it’s been a little bit of a struggle offensively too. Made a change at halftime and I thought Grant, our last three possessions we scored. We scored one play in overtime, hit the long one and kicked the field goal and kicked another field goal the series before that. So, I thought that was positive. Josh is on the mend, it’s a good time to have an off week. He should only get better, right now he’s resting.”
Hoover took a hit right before halftime that left him shaken up, but Cignetti hasn't clarified whether that specifically influenced his decision to make a change. Cignetti also hasn't offered any details on the nature of Hoover's injury.
Since the loss to OSU, Hoover has thrown for 200 yards on 16 of 37 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.
"Offensively, we are not producing like we have the last two years, our consistency is not there right now," Cignetti said.
Wilson, a former starter at Fordham and Old Dominion, spent last season backing up Fernando Mendoza and his brother Alberto. He got on Cignetti's radar when ODU nearly beat Cignetti's undefeated James Madison team in 2023.
“I had total confidence he would get the job done in the second half," Cignetti said. "Almost put him in against Michigan, because like you said, Josh has been dinged up and struggling, and it’s all about production.”
Cignetti told Fischer that it was Alberto Mendoza's decision to transfer that opened up the door for Wilson to return to Bloomington for another season. Wilson put aspirations of going into coaching on hold for a chance to play one more season with the Hoosiers.
Against Minnesota, Wilson was 7 of 19 for 156 yards with a touchdown and added 26 yards on the ground.
"I think he felt like at the end of the year that was probably it and I was probably thinking the same thing," Cignetti said. "Then Alberto left, and I went to Grant and said we could really use a backup. He was all in on it.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football made a QB change vs. Minnesota. What comes next for Josh Hoover, Grant Wilson?