ANN ARBOR, MI — Indiana football quarterback Josh Hoover did what he felt any of his teammates would do in the same situation.
He finished the game.
Battling through an undisclosed injury, Hoover scored the go-ahead touchdown in a 13-6 overtime win over Michigan on Saturday at The Big House. He absorbed contact at the goal line and plunged into the end zone to keep IU’s playoff hopes alive and well.
“Regardless of how I felt, there's guys on this team that are banged up every week, right?” Hoover said. “It’s no different for me versus anybody else. Like we're all gonna do what we can to be out here and be at our best and try to help our team win. That's what it comes down to.”
Hoover tripped on a similar play call in the fourth quarter that would have gone for a big gain. On the second snap of overtime, the Hoosiers fooled Michigan by going back to the keeper off the right side.
“No matter what's going on or what's happened, like in those moments, you just gotta block everything out and go focus on the next play and go win in the game,” Hoover said. “That’s what matters.”
Before his final offensive snap, Hoover had plenty to block from his mind with it being the least productive game of his career. He completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts, finished with less than 100 passing yards for the first time as a starter and threw a costly interception (his first of the season) that nearly allowed Michigan to take a lead.
Indiana had just 49 total yards with two first downs in the second half with IU reluctant to even try and attempt a pass.
Hanging over all that, Hoover acknowledged “battling through some things” health-wise throughout the week thanks to an awkward hit he took on his throwing arm in a 19-15 loss to Ohio State. While Hoover missed only one snap against the Buckeyes, the broadcast captured close-up footage of him in obvious pain trying to throw the ball.
He still hasn’t discussed the exact nature of the injury, but wasn’t at 100% when the game against Michigan kicked off on Saturday.
“It was a tough week,” Hoover said. “Obviously, this is a physical league and you're here, that's something that everybody goes through, right? I think people don't sometimes understand what it looks like to come out here and play every single week. Like there's gonna be weeks where you don't feel good.”
It got the point though where his obvious struggles had the coaching staff contemplating a change. According to Curt Cignetti, the staff had discussions throughout the second half about putting backup quarterback Grant Wilson into the game.
One such moment came when Hoover was slow to get up on his first attempt at that quarterback keeper early in the fourth quarter.
“The offense struggled to say the least,” Cignetti said.
Cignetti opted against making a change with Hoover as determined as ever to help his team pull out the win.
“There was never any doubt in my mind I was gonna finish the game, kind of regardless,” Hoover said. “When you step on the field before the game even starts, you make your mind up about what kind of day it's gonna be, right? You're either gonna succumb to what's happening or find a way.”
The attitude put Hoover in a position to deliver when IU needed him most.
Before the rushing touchdown, Hoover completed a 21-yard pass to Brock Schott, the likes of which he hadn’t completed all day.
He threw a laser across the middle to his tight end down to Michigan's 4-yard line.
On the next play, Hoover found the end zone to help end IU’s 22-game losing streak at Michigan Stadium, his resolve no different than from what he sees up and down the sideline on a weekly basis.
“We're in it together no matter what happens,” Hoover said. “And we're gonna go out there, just like we did today, and do what we can for our brothers.”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Josh Hoover played through pain to lead Indiana football to overtime win at Michigan