No. 9 Indiana Beats No. 18 USC 27-13 as Seventh-Year QB Grant Wilson Shines
No. 9 Indiana beat No. 18 USC 27-13 in Bloomington to move to 9-1 and end the Trojans' College Football Playoff hopes. Seventh-year quarterback Grant Wilson, making his first start since 2024, threw a fourth-quarter touchdown to Charlie Becker.
No. 9 Indiana beat No. 18 USC 27-13 in Bloomington, Indiana, on a chilly November night, and Indiana keeps defying expectations with a seventh-year quarterback at the controls. The win lifted the Hoosiers to 9-1 and knocked the Trojans (7-3) out of College Football Playoff contention.
Grant Wilson was the story. He threw a deep fourth-quarter touchdown pass to star receiver Charlie Becker that broke open another tight Indiana game, in a Big Ten contest with conference championship and playoff implications.
A long road to the start
It was Wilson's first start since 2024. "It has been a long road," he said afterward. "God's so good. Looking back, my first year at Fordham, being here right now, it's a blessing. I never thought I'd be here, but it is good to have a shot again."
His last start came at Old Dominion. Early in the third quarter of a game against Bowling Green on Sept. 28, 2024, the Monarchs' starting quarterback went down injured, and Wilson did not play again that season.
He had spent three years at FCS program Fordham and two at Old Dominion, playing 21 total games. He then transferred to Indiana as depth behind the Mendoza brothers, Fernando and Alberto. Fernando won the Heisman Trophy and became the No. 1 NFL draft pick. Wilson threw a single pass during the Hoosiers' 16-0 championship season.
Indiana then signed Josh Hoover from TCU out of the transfer portal, and Wilson stayed on as his backup. He still made an impression, with nearly the entire team mobbing him after a 43-yard touchdown run in garbage time of the season opener against North Texas.
How the job changed hands
Hoover led Indiana through a 7-1 run, but he was playing hurt. Wilson confirmed a shoulder injury on Saturday night. The Hoosiers averaged just 16 points during a 3-1 stretch filled with close-game anxiety.
Against Minnesota on Oct. 31, coach Curt Cignetti benched Hoover at halftime with Indiana trailing 10-7. Wilson led two field goals, but the Hoosiers still trailed 16-13 with 19 seconds left.
He found Becker for a twisting 33-yard catch. That set up a 60-yard field goal from Paddy McAteer to force overtime, and Wilson threw to Becker again for the winning touchdown.
Cignetti said he made the quarterback call that night. "I kind of made that decision the night that we beat Minnesota," he said. "When I went home and I woke up, it was kind of confirmed based on how I felt … and supported by everybody in the organization."
Indiana had an open date after that game, but Wilson's path was not smooth. He came down with the flu first. "I was down really bad," he said. "I didn't know when it was going to end, but I'm glad it ended." Cignetti did not tell Wilson he would start until the week of the USC game.
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