Curt Cignetti Reveals When, Why He Decided To Start Grant Wilson Against USC

Curt Cignetti didn't exactly roll out the red carpet when informing Grant Wilson that he'd be Indiana's starting quarterback against USC.

"He pulled me to the side at practice, and he goes, 'You're gonna go with the ones,' and then he turned around and walked away," Wilson recalled Saturday night.

That was it. No lengthy conversation, no dramatic announcement. Just a few words from Cignetti, and Wilson was suddenly preparing to make his first start in two years.

While Wilson didn't learn of the decision until the beginning of game week, Cignetti had made up his mind much earlier. In fact, the Indiana coach had been leaning toward a quarterback change since the night of the Hoosiers' dramatic overtime win over Minnesota two weeks earlier.

Saturday, Wilson rewarded that faith, throwing for 305 yards and two touchdowns in Indiana's 27-13 win over USC.

Cignetti made his decision two beeks before USC

As it turns out, Cignetti didn't need the bye week to make up his mind.

He said he went to bed following the Minnesota game thinking he would turn to Wilson over Josh Hoover, who had been struggling while playing through an injury. When Cignetti woke up the following morning, he felt no differently.

"When I woke up, [my feelings] confirmed what I was thinking before I went to bed," Cignetti said Saturday night. "It was supported by everybody in the organization."

Not even a bout with the flu during Indiana's bye week was enough to change those plans. Wilson missed time while battling the illness, but with the Hoosiers on a lighter practice schedule during the bye week, his absence wasn't a significant setback.

By the beginning of USC game week, Wilson was healthy enough to take over the first-team offense. He spent the entire week working with the starters.

Before kickoff Saturday, Cignetti's message was just as straightforward as the one he'd delivered at practice: Go out there and do your thing.

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Indiana finally takes the training wheels off its offense

There was more to Cignetti's decision than simply changing quarterbacks.

For the past couple of weeks, Indiana had been operating with a limited offensive approach as Hoover battled through his injury. The Hoosiers were still finding ways to win, but the explosive passing attack that had helped fuel their success earlier in the season had largely disappeared.

Cignetti was tired of it.

"We've been kind of playing in a tent, so to speak, the last two weeks, conservative, and we all hated it," Cignetti said. "We wanted to attack [USC] and came out early and made some plays… we wanted to play to win and attack, not play with any fear."

With Wilson under center, Indiana was able to open things up. Wilson completed three passes of more than 40 yards against USC, including a 42-yard touchdown strike to Charlie Becker in the fourth quarter that gave the Hoosiers a two-score cushion.

It was the kind of aggressive downfield passing attack Indiana had been missing, and Wilson showed he was more than capable of executing it.

For Becker, who has developed into one of the nation's top offensive weapons, seeing Wilson capitalize on his opportunity meant something beyond the final stat line.

"I'm so proud of him," Becker said. "I don't think there's anyone more deserving than Grant, just because of what a selfless teammate he is. Ever since he got here, it's always been about the team."

Has Wilson earned the starting job moving forward?

After Wilson's performance on Saturday, it would be reasonable to assume Indiana has found its quarterback for the stretch run.

But Cignetti isn't completely ready to make that declaration.

"We'll evaluate it this week as we go," Cignetti said when asked whether Wilson would remain the starter moving forward.

What is known is that Cignetti had made his decision long before kickoff against the Trojans. He trusted Wilson to give Indiana's offense something it had been missing, and the seventh-year quarterback delivered.

Whether that earns Wilson another start remains to be seen, but Saturday offered a pretty compelling argument.

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