Huge Win: Hoosiers Defeat Trojans 27-13

Written by: TJ Inman

For the first time in history, the Indiana Hoosiers have defeated the USC Trojans. Despite a number of injuries, the Hoosiers improved to 9-1 as they knocked off the visitors from Southern California 27-13. Grant Wilson started in place of Josh Hoover and gave the offense a shot in the arm, throwing for more than 300 yards with several deep shots dialed up by the coaching staff. Indiana forced a trio of turnovers and limited USC to just 2-11 on third down as they consistently frustrated Lincoln Riley’s talented offense.

How It Happened for the Hoosiers

-Indiana was without a number of key pieces as they exited the bye week more banged up than they entered it. Joe Brunner, Turbo Richard and Rolijah Hardy were all out and Josh Hoover was available but not healthy enough to start.

-Indiana opened the scoring with a touchdown drive on their first possession. After a missed field goal by USC, it took IU six plays to go 65 yards and Grant Wilson connected with Brock Schott for the score. USC took advantage of a roughing the passer penalty on Byron Baldwin to score on a short field goal and make it 7-3. Indiana appeared to have grabbed a 14-3 lead but a touchdown pass to Charlie Becker was waived off due to an ineligible receiver penalty called on Brock Schott and then Nico Radicic’s woes continued as he missed another field goal attempt. The Hoosiers eventually added a field goal after an interception by Preston Zachman and had a chance to seize control but Grant Wilson threw a pick and USC scored just before halftime to tie the game at 10. USC was 0-6 on third down in the first 30 minutes but IU struggled to run the ball and made too many mistakes. IU began the second half with a nice drive but were halted inside the ten and had to settle for another field goal. USC responded with the same and it was tied again at 13. IU’s offense woke up with a slant pass to Charlie Becker across midfield followed by an explosive play for Khobie Martin that got the ball inside the 1 before Martin plunged in for a touchdown to make it 20-13. USC was stopped again in the red zone and missed a chip shot field goal attempt. Indiana picked up a first down to improve field position but had to punt.

The Trojans marched inside the ten but Isaiah Jones intercepted a pass from Jayden Maiava near the goal line and gave the Hoosiers the ball back with around six minutes to play. Khobie Martin got a pair of key first downs to move IU across midfield. On third and three, IU took their shot. Grant Wilson connected with Charlie Becker for a touchdown against single coverage. With 3:30 to play, IU led 27-13. On fourth down, Jamari Sharpe intercepted a lobbed pass to effectively end the contest.

-Indiana desperately needed this victory and despite a number of injuries, the Hoosiers dug deep and got it done. This serves as a quality win for IU’s College Football Playoff resume and it means that if IU wins at Washington and against Purdue, they will be in the Big Ten Championship Game for a second straight season.

Key Stats

-Grant Wilson put the ball in danger a number of times but he showed plenty of confidence throwing the ball deep. He ended the game 17-27 for 305 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Jayden Maiava was 26-42 but threw three interceptions.

-The two teams were nearly identical on the ground with neither finding much success. IU finished with 4.2 yards per carry to USC’s 3.9.

-Jacob Savage filled in admirably for Rolijah Hardy. The freshman continues to impress and he led the team with 13 tackles and a key tipped pass.

-How nice is it to have Khobie Martin back? He made a number of key plays and showed the explosiveness the running game has lacked. Martin finished with a touchdown and 82 yards plus one catch for seven yards.