BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- On his way home from Indiana's Oct. 31 overtime win against Minnesota, Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti decided he would start Grant Wilson at quarterback for the team's next game two weeks later.
Cignetti slept on it and felt the same way the next morning. Early this week, he informed Wilson of the decision.
"He pulled me to the side while out there at practice, and he goes, 'You're going to go with the ones,' and then turned around and walked away," Wilson said.
Cignetti's decision paid off not only in Wilson's performance in Saturday's 27-13 win against No. 18 USC, but a more aggressive slant from the offense. Indiana didn't pull back with Wilson, a seventh-year player who had not started since 2024 with Old Dominion but replaced Josh Hoover in the second half against Minnesota. Instead, the Hoosiers pushed the pedal down, recording their highest points total since Oct. 3 at Rutgers. Indiana averaged 17.9 yards per pass and got a jolt in the run game from Khobie Martin, who missed the first half of the season after an injury in the opener.
After dropping five spots in the latest College Football Playoff rankings despite not playing last week, the No. 9 Hoosiers looked more like a complete team in its best win of the season.
"We've been kind of playing in the tent, so to speak, the last two weeks, conservative," Cignetti said. "We all hated it, and we wanted to attack this team."
Indiana had not eclipsed 20 points or 400 yards in regulation since the game against Rutgers, but immediately looked downfield with Wilson, whose first completion went for 47 yards to Shazz Preston. Wilson later connected with Nick Marsh for 65 yards and sealed the win on a 42-yard touchdown strike to Charlie Becker with 3:30 to play.
Nine of his 17 completions went for 12 yards or longer.
"We took some shots there on the first drive, kind of set the tone for the game, got them to back up a little bit, play their shell, and then we got them to switch out of it," said Wilson, who finished with 305 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. "It's definitely a confidence boost for the offense, for the hoggies [linemen] up front, not to just run the ball on first down, give them a little bit of a break in pass pro. That was a good step for us."
Cignetti was noncommittal about the team's starting quarterback going forward, saying the position will be evaluated next week. Hoover, a transfer from TCU who started Indiana's first nine games, has been dealing with an injury to his throwing shoulder since Oct. 17 against Ohio State.
"What he's been going through is tough," Wilson said. "I don't wish that on anyone. ... He's gone through so much with his shoulder. He's a great teammate."
After a post on X that seemingly criticized the CFP selection committee's methodology, Cignetti said Indiana's fluctuation "really doesn't matter," but players such as Martin took notice.
"I don't know what to say about us getting moved to 9," Martin said. "Obviously, that was B.S., but at the end of the day, we proved today that whatever the committee says doesn't matter to us. We're just going to go on the field and dominate. ... It just lit that fire underneath us that people still don't believe that we can do this over and over again."
The defending national champions haven't replicated their dominance this year, especially in Big Ten play, but they used a familiar formula of winning key situations against USC. Indiana allowed just two of 11 third-down conversions, converted seven of 13 third-down chances and allowed only one touchdown on the Trojans' five red zone trips.
Leading 20-13, Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones stepped in front of a Jayden Maiava pass for one of three Hoosiers interceptions.
"We do pride ourselves on the situational awareness of the game," Jones said. "A lot of guys embrace that."
USC coach Lincoln Riley said his red zone plan ultimately wasn't strong enough, despite the Trojans moving the ball well against IU. He noted "too many mistakes," including several dropped interceptions.
The Trojans' third loss could extinguish their chances of a first CFP appearance.
"I believe in myself," Riley said. "I believe in our leadership. I believe in our administration. I believe in everything that's happening here. And trust me, there's nobody that wants this as badly as all of us involved. We know how close we are as a group. We know how close we are as a team. We had a good view of that tonight. So, we're going to keep battling. We will get there. And all this will make that time more sweet when that does happen."
While USC waits for its breakthrough, Indiana moved closer to three straight CFP trips under Cignetti.
"We do what we're supposed to do on the field, we're going to play in the playoffs," Martin said.
ESPN's Chuck Culpepper contributed to this report.