Josh Hoover riding wave of last year’s success with Horned Frogs

FRISCO, Texas — After helping TCU win six of its’ final seven games last season, the junior quarterback is carrying all of that momentum into his 2025 campaign.

Josh Hoover took the Big 12 by storm last season, after he threw for a school-record, 3,949 yards. He even finished ninth nationally in total offense, 18th in passing efficiency and 19th in completion percentage. With fall camp three weeks away, Hoover is enjoying how the offense is coming together, and believes the unit is making tremendous strides.

The Horned Frogs are basically picking up where they left off on offense, with a potent aerial attack, and numerous ways of finding the endzone. TCU scored 35 or more points in five of it’s final six contests, and Hoover feels the offense can produce better numbers this fall.

“It gives you confidence, there were some high and low spots, but the last half of the season I really felt like we really started clicking as an offense,” Hoover said. “We started hot, then had a couple of rough weeks and finished hot, so I think going into 2025 we’re just trying to stay hot the entire year, and doing what we do best.”

Hoover is putting an emphasis on delivering in the clutch, considering two of the Horned Frogs’ four losses were by three points or less. Accomplishing that feat is going to take some improvement from the defense, but Hoover knows a lot of the responsibility is going to fall on his shoulders, and he doesn’t want to disappoint.

“I feel like I thrive in those close ones, but we gotta do a better job of closing those out,” he said. “As a quarterback in those situations you gotta be able to elevate your game, do your job at a high level and finish those games out.”

If the Horned Frogs can keep that type of mentality, and everyone does their job, Hoover is confident they’ll have more success on the gridiron. The game still comes down to making adjustments though. Which is why Hoover refuses to stay complacent. He’s more knowledgeable of the playbook, and advanced at the line of scrimmage. Most importantly, Hoover is making others around him better, and that’s something Coach Sonny Dykes admires.

“I’m not so sure that the most important quality isn’t an innate ability to just make people around you better, and I think that’s what Josh does better than anything,” Dykes said. “Now look, he throws the ball as well as any quarterback I’ve coached, and I’ve been fortunate to coach some good ones.”

Hoover continues to be his own worst critic, and thinks he’s just cracking the surface in terms of potential and success. In his mind, Andy Dalton set the bar high for the program, and former teammate Max Duggan led the Horned Frogs to the National Championship Game. Hoover is still building his legacy at TCU, and that doesn’t happen without having accountability when adversity strikes.

“I gotta take care of the ball, make good decisions, continue to mature as a quarterback, and that’s something I felt like I did this spring,” the 21-year old said. “The light kind of clicked on for me this spring in a lot of areas, and I’m excited about moving forward with that.”

The Big 12 is full of elite quarterbacks this season, and the last thing Hoover wants is to be a needle in the haystack. The Texas native has intentions on separating himself from the rest of the pack, and will get an opportunity in week one at North Carolina. A win over the Tar Heels will generate a ton of momentum heading into Big 12 play, and Hoover is eager to start the journey.

“In our conference you gotta show up every week, and play your best football, otherwise you’re not going to win.”