Josh Hoover threw for 231 yards and four touchdowns in his Indiana debut as the No. 6 Hoosiers rolled to a 52-16 season-opening victory over North Texas on a sweltering Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, Ind.
The fifth-year transfer from TCU, who suffered a cut on his nose in the second quarter that had blood dripping down his face and chin strap, hit 13 of 16 passes directing Indiana’s surgical attack on a day when temperatures on the turf reached 155 degrees per Fox Sports.
Charlie Becker caught two touchdown passes and Turbo Richard rushed for two scores as the defending national champions improved to 28-2 during the Curt Cignetti era.
Tayven Jackson, who started six games for Indiana in 2023-24, completed 22 of 28 passes for 192 yards and one interception in Neal Brown’s debut as North Texas head coach. Jahiem White rushed for 61 yards and a score while catching seven passes.
Hoover needed just one throw to register his first touchdown pass as a Hoosier. Facing third-and-5 from the North Texas 15, he fired a back-shoulder pass to Nick Marsh that the Michigan State transfer caught with his right hand while falling to the turf. The officials ruled it an incomplete pass, but the call was reversed to give Indiana a 7-0 lead just 84 seconds into the season.
North Texas changed the game’s tempo by holding the ball for 7:44, but the Mean Green turned it over on downs at Indiana’s 38.
The Hoosiers transitioned to a more methodical approach, too, but made it pay off. Richard, a Boston College transfer, capped a 10-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown blast to push Indiana’s lead to 14-0 with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
North Texas burned another 5:25 and came away with a 47-yard field goal by Dominic De Freitas.
Indiana responded with its third touchdown in as many possessions. Hoover closed a 51-yard drive by rifling a high slant that Becker skied to grab for a 9-yard score and a 21-3 lead with 6:46 to go in the half.
The Hoosiers carried a 24-6 lead into halftime even though the Mean Green owned the advantage in total yardage (173-153) and time of possession (19:22 to 10:38).
North Texas slashed its deficit to 24-13 on the second half’s opening drive as White broke tackles for a 9-yard touchdown run.
Indiana wasted little time answering as Hoover exploited man-to-man coverage against Becker, who flew down the right sideline and outfought the corner for a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-13 Indiana at the 9:56 mark of the third.
After De Freitas booted his third field goal, Hoover fired deep over the middle to Davion Chandler for a 42-yard score to give Indiana a 38-16 advantage with 12:51 left. Richard added a 1-yard blast with 5:41 to go and backup quarterback Grant Wilson sprinted 43 yards for a score.
–Field Level Media
