Hoosiers Closing In On Big Ten Title Game? 4 Takeaways From Indiana’s Win Over USC

Cardiologists in the greater Indianapolis area are set for a lucrative holiday season.

Indiana football has never been for the faint of heart. The Hoosiers’ history of ineptitude tested the truest supporters. But the 2026 season has proved perhaps even more difficult thanks to a heavy dose of hair-pulling-fueled play and heart-pounding finishes.

And yet, Indiana is still up — a 27-13 winner over No. 18 U.S.C.

There’s nothing particularly complicated about the 2026 Hoosiers. The offense isn’t as efficient as last year’s national title-winning team. The defense? Well, actually that might be better.

What it means long term is that Indiana fans will be either bald or gray whenever this season reaches its final conclusion. But these are conversations for a later date.

Curt Cignetti’s group keeps finding a way. That’s the only thing that matters.

1. The Lincoln Riley Hot Seat conversation is back

USC was competitive on Saturday. Give the Trojans that much.

There is reason for hope. Freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley and tight end Mark Bowman look the part of All-Americans now and in the future. Edge rusher Luke Wafle will be the next in a long line of terrorizing the Trojans defensive line. The combination of Waymond Jordan and King Miller was more effective than any group of running backs that has been against this dominant Indiana front seven.

And yet the Trojans still beat Bloomington.

USC has simply turned into a mediocre Las Vegas steakhouse. There’s flash. Pizazz. Excitement. But by the time you bite into a premiere cut that rivals your local grocery store’s best, and the waiter hands you your $300 bill, everyone is just disappointed and upset.

Welcome to the Lincoln Riley experience.

The Trojans’ Week 9 win over Ohio State was supposed to be cathartic — so much so that Riley decided to scribble a series of thoughts on a piece of paper he kept tucked in his back pocket for the postgame press conference, which made for an odd scene.

It only further proved that USC’s head coach continues to feel the walls closing in.

The Buckeyes — even in a win Saturday over Northwestern — have shown they’re far from the team that came to Indiana and beat the Hoosiers thanks to six inches of sideline play a month ago.

Beyond that, USC’s best win this fall is…. Penn State? Washington? You get the point.

Riley was hired with hopes of College Football Playoff glory. The Trojans haven’t sniffed the field since Caleb Williams was on campus.

A win over a capable Indiana team on Saturday would put the Trojans back in the conversation. Too many mistakes. Too many misfires. Many unfinished possibilities.

The loss now means the loudest battle for Los Angeles in decades is all that separates USC from its third eight-win season or worst in four years.

That won’t cut it for check writers. That won’t cut it for stakeholders at Heritage Hall. Assuming USC can serve against a coachless Maryland team next week, Riley may have just one more shot to prove he deserves to stay on top in Los Angeles.

This game score may deserve its own set of prepared statements.

2. Indiana finished drives when it mattered. USC didn’t.

USC looked the part early.

The Trojans rushed for almost 5 yards per carry on their first six drives, while quarterback Jayden Maiava made a handful of feathery completions as they marched to the Indiana 14-yard line.

And then everything fell apart.

A hold took USC out of the red zone. Miller was stonewalled on a 1-yard rush. Maiava’s third down throw to Mosley was fumbled.

It all ended with kicker Ryon Sayeri firing a 51-yard attempt from the left straight into the South End Shade Zone at Memorial Stadium.

The Trojans followed up their first drive with an almost identical drive on their second possession. They marched 63 yards in 12 plays thanks to a steady mix of passing and rushing as Indiana’s normally suffocating defense struggled to match Maiava on a handful of passing options.

A third down, roughing the passer penalty and an 8-yard pass from Maiava to Jordan pushed the Trojans inside the Indiana 15-yard line. Jordan then immediately stuffed himself for a 1-yard run, lost four on his next carry and Maiava misfired on a third-down throw to the left front post that bounced off Bowman’s outstretched hands. The Trojans settled for a field goal.

Compare that to the Hoosiers.

Indiana responded to USC’s opening drive by marching 60 yards in six plays — all of which came on a pair of big throws by quarterback Grant Wilson, who started Saturday in place of the injured Josh Hoover.

Wilson wasn’t perfect. He overthrew wide receiver Nick Marsh on the sideline on the Hoosiers’ first play from scrimmage. He almost stopped a shot at the right back post on a shot that floated over him longer than he thought.

Still, Indiana was able to finish drives when it mattered. USC didn’t.

If that isn’t an overview of both programs right now, I’m not sure what is.

3. New quarterback, same problems for Indiana

Saturday started with a bang.

The deep throw to Marsh. Tight end Brock Schott’s punt. Indiana’s offense was rolling. Until it wasn’t.

Wilson had moments in Saturday’s race. He displayed the ability to push the ball vertically into a busy Hoosier receiver room in a way that Hoover hadn’t in recent weeks — an impressive 42-yard throw to wide receiver Charlie Becker that proved to be the highlight of the day. But the inconsistencies were there against a USC secondary that ranked in the bottom half of the FBS and 13th in the Big Ten in pass defense heading into Saturday’s affair in Bloomington.

Pushing for points before the end of the second quarter, Wilson lost an open Shazz Preston on a ball that was up and out before running into the arms of USC defensive back Deven Bryant.

The Trojans took that gift and marched 60 yards in three plays, capping the half with a 7-yard touchdown pass between Maiava and wide receiver Zacharyus Williams to tie proceedings at 10 points apiece.

Hoover, to his credit, has also been on fire this fall. But too often he was off target, blurry and out of sync. It’s hard to say how much of that is due to injuries. We probably won’t know for sure until the end of the season.

Still, for all the criticism that Indiana needed to make a quarterback change in recent weeks, Saturday further reinforced, if nothing else, that the Hoosiers seem destined to go as far as their defense will take them.

Is Cignetti’s group really just Michigan with better receivers and more guts in the late game? It’s getting harder to beat the charges.

4. Indiana, UCLA on a collision course for the Big Ten title game

The final Big Ten title game is on pace to include *check notes* Indiana and UCLA.

Just as we all expected.

The Hoosiers are in the driver’s seat with a one-game lead over Ohio State with only Washington and Purdue remaining on its schedule. The trip to Seattle, while long, seems far less imposing given the Huskies’ similar inability to put anything together offensively this fall.

Meanwhile, Bob Chesney’s group returned home and watched the rest of the Big Ten beat themselves after the Bruins posted a rain-soaked victory over a pesky Illinois team on Friday night.

UCLA is 10-0 for the first time since 1998. Its remaining schedule includes a Michigan team that has brought back offensive football for eight decades and a USC team that, while talented, continues to struggle to leave the conference’s best.

The storylines for this hypothetical matchup are juicy. Cignetti against the man who replaced him at James Madison. Indiana vs. the program has had enough as the 2026 version of the Hoosiers. A sportsman can dream, eh?

Two games remain. We might be able to start making those Indianapolis history plans.