By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers will host No. 18 USC Trojans at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
It is one of the top games of the weekend in Week 11. We could see these two teams face each other in the College Football Playoffs. The Trojans are coming into this game with strong momentum. Trojans defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 30-18, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Halloween.
The Hoosiers had a tough battle last week against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Hoosiers won it in overtime, 23-16. The matchup against the Trojans will only get tougher.
Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti knows how good the Trojans are. USC is playing terrific defense lately. They have a couple of fearless first-year students. Indiana’s defense will have to be disciplined against USC. The Trojans lead the all-time series, 4-0. The last matchup was on Sep 18, 1982, which the Trojans won 28-7.
Cignetti spoke with the media this week about what the team needs to work on. The game against Minnesota taught them a lot. Growing pains.
“We’ll have to play and obviously can’t do a lot of things we did against Minnesota,” Cignetti said. “It was an uncharacteristic game for us in so many different ways, but a really good defensive performance.”
The big question of the week for Cignetti is: who will the starting quarterback be? Cignetti benched Josh Hoover. Backup quarterback Grant Wilson led the Hoosiers to victory last week. Hoover has been battling injuries. Hoover suffered an upper-body injury against Ohio State. Both quarterbacks are available for the upcoming game. A lot can happen between now and 3 pm on Saturday.
Indiana will be without starting running back Turbo Richard. Therefore, we should expect Lee Deebe Jr. to get a lot of carries in this game.
Lincoln Riley is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Trojans. USC is still struggling to perform consistently outside of their home turf. Quarterback Jayden Maiavia has thrown 20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions this season. Trey Mosley and Mark Bowman are two freshmen who will need to have a big game against this Hoosiers defense.
“We need to embrace the challenge of maybe not knowing, and then I think you also got to understand that also provides some advantages for us too in terms of, I think the continuity that we’re starting to develop, and if teams are playing with a different guy, there are some real advantages for the side that isn’t as well, right?,” Riley said. “So we’ve got to make sure that those go through, and I think some of it’s the leadership and confidence so that we’re playing with defensively.”
Indiana are favorites to win this game. It might come down to a tight finish, and no blowouts. The game begins at 3:30 pm ET.
Prediction: Hoosiers 27-20
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
