No. 1 overall selection<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 would be daunting for many. But Hoover did not shy away from the opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWell, he embraced that challenge when he made the decision to come here,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s a process-oriented guy. So, trying to make the most out of every rep right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hoover struggled to begin Thursday\u2019s spring game, missing multiple throws. He finished the first quarter just 2-9 passing but settled in throughout the second. Hoover finished 6-14 with an unofficial 94 passing yards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite inconsistency Thursday, Cignetti remains confident in his projected starter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s played a lot of football, and I\u2019m confident that he\u2019ll come out of camp ready to play well and build off his successes,\u201d Cignetti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sixth-year redshirt senior Grant Wilson, redshirt sophomore Tyler Cherry and redshirt freshman Jacob Bell each took snaps at quarterback behind Hoover on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mendoza\u00a0becomes Indiana\u2019s second No. 1 pick in program history, joining fullback Corbett Davis in 1938.<\/p>\n
Stability at defensive line and uncertainty on offensive front\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Indiana lost much of its defensive line from a season ago, the Hoosiers retained two key members of their championship roster. Now-redshirt senior defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker and junior defensive lineman Mario Landino return to anchor the Cream and Crimson\u2019s starting unit up front.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cignetti also brought in four transfer portal additions to help solidify his defensive line, giving him \u201cmore guys\u201d than he can play.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Hoosiers\u2019 defensive line regularly penetrated the backfield Thursday, picking up five sacks and four additional tackles for loss.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the offseason, Cignetti brought in a duo of former Kansas State University edge rushers\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0redshirt senior Tobi Osunsanmi and redshirt junior Chiddi Obiazor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think both the K-State (Kansas State) boys are really good,\u201d redshirt senior offensive lineman Carter Smith said Thursday. \u201cTobi (Osunsanmi) is really quick and really swift off the edge. He moves so fluent, too. I just can\u2019t wait to go against them. And then obviously Chiddi being the heavier set guy. Honestly, I saw a spin move out of him today\u00a0\u2014 kind of caught my eye, pretty impressed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While its defensive line appears to be a strength heading into the fall, Indiana\u2019s offensive front remains questionable. Last season\u2019s starting center, Pat Coogan, exhausted his collegiate eligibility after the national championship, leaving a hole at the position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Redshirt senior offensive linemen Drew Evans and Bray Lynch have each been tasked with taking on the center role throughout spring camp. The team also added Wisconsin transfer Joe Brunner to the group. The redshirt senior brings experience after starting all 12 games at left guard in each of the last two seasons for the Badgers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Smith has missed all of spring camp due to surgery repairing a torn labrum, as the team has yet to build a cohesive offensive line.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re continuing our quest to develop quality depth there,\u201d Cignetti said about the team\u2019s offensive line.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
New-look running back room\u00a0<\/p>\n
The running back tandem of Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black accounted for 2,160 of the Hoosiers\u2019 3,406 total rushing yards last season. But with the pair now graduated, Indiana has turned to junior running back Turbo Richard and redshirt sophomore running back Khobie Martin to lead the backfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Boston College last season, Richard ran for 749 yards and nine touchdowns. Meanwhile, Martin returns to Indiana after running for 506 yards and six touchdowns in a backup role.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During Thursday\u2019s game, Richard led the backfield with an unofficial 39 yards across eight carries. Martin added six carries for an unofficial 26 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a room that if we can keep them healthy,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cI think there’s a strength. Turbo (Richard) and Khobie (Martin) were very consistent this spring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Redshirt senior running back Lee Bebee Jr., who rushed for 209 yards and a touchdown last year, is also expected to contribute to the backfield this season. Bebee Jr.\u2019s 2025 season got cut short after a season-ending ACL tear against Indiana State University on Sept. 12, 2025, but he is expected to return to action in the fall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wide receiver depth\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana lost two of the most productive wide receivers in program history in the offseason with Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt both declaring for the NFL Draft. But Cignetti replaced the duo with one of the most coveted players in the 2026 transfer cycle: junior wide receiver Nick Marsh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marsh spent the first two years of his collegiate career at Michigan State, where he racked up 1,311 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. In his first action in front of the Hoosier faithful, Marsh collected two catches for an unofficial 23 yards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Michigan State transfer will team up with junior wide receiver Charlier Becker, who brokeout in 2025. While he did not play Thursday, Becker registered 679 yards and six touchdowns through the air last season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s (Becker) there every single day,\u201d Hoover said. \u201cHe wants to throw, wants to catch, wants to get the extra work in. And as a quarterback, you love that. So, Nick (Marsh), I mean, he\u2019s just, he\u2019s the same way. Just a freak athlete.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Hoosiers also return redshirt senior Tyler Morris, who missed all of last season with a knee injury he suffered during 2025 spring camp.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now healthy, Morris led the Hoosiers\u2019 wide receivers Thursday, reeling in a 70-yard touchdown catch in the game\u2019s second drive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s made some big plays here the last five or six practices,\u201d Cignetti said of Morris. \u201cAnd that\u2019s good to see. We\u2019re gonna need him. He\u2019s an experienced guy who could probably play all three positions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana will host summer workouts, before returning for fall camp. The Hoosiers\u2019 2026 regular season slate is scheduled to begin Sept. 5, when they host the University of North Texas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Follow reporter Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06<\/a> and conbanks@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indiana football fans filed into Memorial Stadium on Thursday night for the 2026 spring game. The Crimson (offense)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7],"class_list":{"0":"post-873325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116457973009808719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}