The Champs Have Something to Prove: Indiana Hosts USC With Its Quarterback Job Still a Secret

The defending national champions have something to prove, and they are not saying who will lead them out of the tunnel. No. 9 Indiana hosts No. 18 USC on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS, according to On3. It is one of the biggest games on the Big Ten calendar, and it arrives with a quarterback question hanging over the home team.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has not named a starter for the game, Yahoo Sports reported, and he has made a point of keeping the decision to himself. Starter Josh Hoover has been fighting through an arm injury, and veteran Grant Wilson replaced him at halftime against Minnesota. That leaves USC coach Lincoln Riley preparing for two different quarterbacks.

Riley sounded unbothered by the guessing game. "They're both very capable of running their offense," Riley said of Hoover and Wilson, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times noted that the Trojans have spent much of this season getting ready for uncertain quarterback situations on the other side, and Indiana is giving them one more.

Indiana's season has already brought one hard lesson. The Hoosiers lost to Ohio State, 19-15, in Bloomington, a defeat that ended the defending champions' 22-game winning streak, Sports Illustrated reported. Then came another sting during last week's open date, when Indiana slid from No. 4 to No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings without playing a game.

Cignetti did not hide his frustration. He reacted sharply to the drop, Newsweek reported, and appeared to take a shot at an SEC program while doing it. Whatever one thinks of the committee, the clearest response available to Indiana is the one that comes on the field. A convincing win over a ranked opponent on national television would make the argument for him.

The Trojans come to Bloomington at 7-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play, and they are coming off their second open week of the season, according to previews of the matchup. USC's best moment came on Halloween, when it upset Ohio State. That gives Riley's team something Indiana did not manage this fall: a win over the Buckeyes.

The student newspaper framed the week simply: USC is preparing to face the reigning national champions on the road. For a program trying to prove it belongs in the playoff conversation, there is no bigger opportunity left on the schedule than this one.

If Cignetti does turn to Wilson, it will be a story worth watching for reasons beyond the scoreboard. Wilson is a graduate quarterback in his seventh college season, according to previews of the matchup. In an era when players can hop from school to school in search of instant playing time, a man who has stayed the course for seven seasons and stayed ready for a moment like this one deserves respect.

Hoover, meanwhile, has kept fighting through an injury that would have sidelined plenty of players. Either way, Indiana will need the kind of toughness that carried it to last season's title.

Big games reveal character, and this one will reveal plenty. Indiana has to show it can absorb a loss and a rankings slap without losing its edge. USC has to show its win over Ohio State was not a one-time surprise. And whichever quarterback takes the first snap for the Hoosiers has to show that the offense does not depend on one name.

My guess is that the team that handles the uncertainty best will win. Indiana's coaching staff has kept its cards close, a sign it trusts either quarterback to win. USC's staff has spent the season preparing for exactly this kind of mystery. The rest comes down to blocking, tackling and taking care of the football, the old virtues that still decide most big Saturdays.

Kickoff in Bloomington is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS. A win would strengthen Indiana's case to climb back up the playoff rankings, while a USC victory on the road would mark the Trojans as one of the Big Ten's most dangerous teams heading into the final weeks of the regular season.