The Indiana Hoosiers Have a QB Controversy and Should Absolutely Start QB2 Grant Wilson Moving Forward
The Indiana Hoosiers are 8-1. They're 5-1 in the Big Ten. They're ranked 6th in the country. Just a few years ago, Indiana fans would be beside themselves for a season this great. At this point in the season, we'd have made absurd concessions like, "I'll give up watching college football for the REST OF MY LIFE if we just made the playoff this season."
That might be a little extreme, but that's how bad Indiana had been for SO LONG. Even a single season of playoff-caliber football was more than any Indiana fan thought they would see in their lives. But as it turns out, Curt Cignetti is a better coach than that. We all watched him put together the perfect fucking football team and win the Indiana Football Hoosiers a National Championship just last season.
Unfortunately, being a sports fan isn't a rational endeavor. No matter how many years of putrid, hopeless football Indiana fans were subjected to before Curt Cignetti, the minute Indiana got good, that became the expectation. It's honestly kind of fucked up. It's really a fascinating look into the human psyche. As an Indiana fan, during both the Michigan and Minnesota games, I genuinely found myself thinking "This team is taking YEARS off my life"... as if they hadn't already given me more than I ever could have asked for. But again... that's not how being a fan works. You're never satisfied with just one moment. It's always about the next one.
This year, watching Indiana football has been as exciting as it's been excruciating. They're still right in the mix. There are no great teams in college football this year. But for the last month or so... boy have the Hoosiers been a frustrating watch. Now, with 3 games left in the regular season and heading into a MUCH NEEDED bye week, Indiana has a good ol' fashioned QB controversy on its hands.
To start the season, Indiana had QB1 Josh Hoover – the $4M transfer portal quarterback Indiana paid to be the successor to Heisman-winning National Champion Fernando Mendoza.
Things started out fine with Josh Hoover, but somewhere along the line (probably the Ohio State game) something happened to him.
He appeared to have injured his shoulder. Unless Josh Hoover and Indiana's coaching staff got together to lie about a shoulder injury to protect the fact that Josh Hoover is in a mental torture chamber that has him airmailing every open receiver by 10 yards, there's clearly something going on there. I know people will say, "Well, if he's hurt, then why isn't he on the injury report?"
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That's a fair question. I assume that's where Curt Cignetti is trying to get away with something. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the rules of the injury report are, but heading into Saturday, if there was never a question that Josh Hoover would be the starter, then he's not "probable". If Hoover takes the reps in practice, and Curt Cignetti knows they're rolling with him despite a sore shoulder, then he's "definite". I'm sure some (maybe most) coaches don't fill out their injury reports that way, but I'm guessing that's some weird gamesmanship/language loophole Cignetti is exploiting with his injury report.
But at this point, the injury report is irrelevant. Either Josh Hoover is hurt, and it's causing him to suck. Or he's not hurt, and he's been sucking on his own. Either way, I've seen enough to think Indiana shouldn't put all their trust in him moving forward. Clearly, whatever happened to Josh Hoover has got into his head. Maybe his shoulder will gradually get better, but he's not just going to wake up one day and be perfectly back to normal. His accuracy is fucked. His brain doesn't trust his arm. Even if his shoulder gradually heals, I don't know if the trust in his throwing shoulder comes right back with as quickly as the 2026 Indiana Hoosiers need it to.
Put a pin in that point.
Maybe I'm blinded by being a fan, but I REFUSE to believe Indiana doesn't have a capable offense in there somewhere. It might not be what it was last year. It might not be a top whatever offense in the country. But they have too many weapons to not have something better than what they're putting forward right now.
That's why Indiana should move forward with QB2 Grant Wilson. At least to start the USC game two weekends from now. When Grant Wilson came in the game vs. Minnesota, the offense was different. It was better.
It was better because of two things. For one, Grant Wilson is more mobile. He can run the football a bit. There is nothing more demoralizing than watching a struggling offense with a QB who can't make something happen with his legs. I really thought Josh Hoover would be able to do that, but lately, it has NOT been in his bag.
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I'm sorry, cherrypicking that highlight was a low blow. But if you've been watching Indiana, you've seen it. Josh Hoover goes down too easily. He's not agile in the pocket or strong on his feet. He's rarely willing to pull back a read option and run for himself. Meanwhile, Grant Wilson looks like he wants to carry the ball when he can. In a struggling offense, adding the threat of a QB who can tuck and run is huge.
Grant Wilson is an athlete. He was on the fucking hands team for Christ's sake.
More importantly, with Josh Hoover in the game, Indiana's offense has not been a threat to take the top off the defense. That's just not acceptable when you have Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh as your top receivers. That's two likely first-round picks. As a defense playing Indiana, you should be worried about this happening on any given play.
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Right now, Josh Hoover isn't doing that. Grant Wilson might. Grant Wilson has a big arm. He can make Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh deep threats again. He's more than willing to run the football on his own when necessary. For me, that's enough to warrant giving him a shot. He's at minimum a welcome change of pace at a time when Indiana's offense DESPERATELY needs one. It's not like their offense has to be great. They have an amazing defense that can keep them in any game vs. any team in the country. The offense just has to be… anything other than what it is right now. Grant Wilson is different, and Indiana's offense needs something different.
And back to my point about Josh Hoover not getting better overnight… IF Grant Wilson gets the nod and turns out to suck in his own right… well fuck… maybe some time on the bench for Josh Hoover is what will get him right. That's probably a pipe dream, but right now, Indiana keeps rolling Josh Hoover out there with a probably-injured shoulder (and definitely-injured mentals), and he continues to underachieve. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If Josh Hoover is going to get better, something different needs to happen. Maybe getting benched for Grant Wilson, then bringing Josh Hoover back in for a triumphant return when the Hoosiers have their backs against the wall is what gets him back to what he needs to be. Then all of a sudden, Indiana is looking like a National Championship team again.
I know I'm talking crazy down-the-road hypotheticals at this point, but my overall point is, there is more good than bad that can come from starting Grant Wilson. Josh Hoover isn't leading Indiana to a National Championship unless he undergoes some drastic change. Maybe getting benched for a couple of games would be that thing. Or maybe Grant Wilson steps in and does enough to hold onto the job. Again… the offense doesn't need to be much. It just needs to be slightly more capable than it is right now. Grant Wilson is worth a shot.
I suppose the counter-argument would be that Josh Hoover's shoulder is hurt, but it's ALMOST better, and after this upcoming bye week, he'll be totally back to normal (or close enough to it). I just don't know. I don't trust that. Not that I fucking know anything. And I don't think Indiana fans are crazy for holding out that hope. But I think sometimes a change at quarterback is a welcome spark, and if any unit in college football needs a spark right now, it's Indiana's offense.