streak

Lincoln Riley can’t tell you who for sure will be at quarterback for Indiana when USC meets the defending national champions this weekend. And Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has kept things pretty close to the vest over whether it’ll be Josh Hoover, the usual starter, or Grant Wilson, the seventh-year backup.

“We could spend our time speculating back and forth who it’s going to be,” Riley said. “I doubt we’re going to see some radically different offense based on who the quarterback is.”

His calm comes from the fact that under-center uncertainty is nothing new at this point for No. 18 USC. Riley has spent pretty much the entire season preparing for opponents racked by quarterback questions.

It wasn’t clear, back in Week 1, who would be under center for Fresno State. Nor was it obvious two weeks later if Rutgers was sticking with its original starting quarterback.

Oregon got only three drives out of its top passer, Dante Moore, against USC before his injury thrust No. 2 Dylan Raiola into action. And a month after that, an injury to Ohio State star Julian Sayin left USC to face his backup, Luke Fahey, whom the Trojans terrorized.

It’s still up in the air if Hoover, who came to Indiana as a top transfer, will be healthy enough coming out of Indiana’s bye. Banged up for most of the past month, Hoover was replaced by Wilson in the Hoosiers’ last game before the bye. And Wilson proceeded to bring Indiana back from the brink in an overtime win over Minnesota.

Hoover wasn’t listed with any injury designation on the Big Ten’s availability reports this week. But over his last four games, Hoover has completed only 48% of his passes; clearly, he was affected by injury.

“We’ll see how the week plays out, and we’ll see who we trot out there,” Cignetti said Monday.

Indiana quarterback Grant Wilson runs with the ball during a win over Howard in September.

(Doug McSchooler / Associated Press)

Whoever plays quarterback for No. 9 Indiana will have an array of weapons at their disposal, including star wideout Charlie Becker, who’s tracking to be a top-15 pick in the 2027 NFL draft. Though, that part should be nothing new, either, given USC’s recent work against Ohio State and the presumptive No. 1 pick Jeremiah Smith.

“Real physical guy, has some great speed, a really experienced receiver,” cornerback Chasen Johnson said. “That’s going to be a great matchup.”

How well Indiana is able to move the ball could decide not just the Big Ten race but both teams’ College Football Playoff fates. With a loss in Bloomington, USC would be knocked out of contention, reigniting questions about Riley’s future. With a win, USC would be propelled into the playoff conversation.

That would leave only No. 4 UCLA — and another backup quarterback, Ty Dieffenbach — standing in the Trojans’ way.

Meanwhile, USC quarterback Jayden Maiava remains the most consistent — and healthy — passer in the conference. Even if he hasn’t seemed all that consistent — or healthy — by his standards.

“He’s in a great place mentally,” Riley said. “He’s in a great place physically right now. He’s had some bumps and bruises along the year, but right now he’s as healthy as he’s been in terms of his body feeling good. He’s ready to roll, and I think he’s gearing up to play extremely well in this last stretch.”

Shane Wright, Nils Hoglander and Jayden Struble had a goal and an assist apiece, and the Nashville Predators extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-2 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.

Hoglander put Nashville ahead with a remarkable between-the-legs goal in the second period, and Justus Annunen made 27 saves to win his fourth consecutive start. Steven Stamkos also scored late in the third period.

One night after a comfortable shutout of the Kings, the Predators completed the Southern California sweep by cooling down the surging Ducks, whose five-game winning streak ended.

Cutter Gauthier extended the NHL’s most prolific seven-game goal scoring binge in more than three decades with a first-period score for the Ducks. Captain Mikael Granlund also had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who had been the first team since the 1988-89 Kings to score at least five goals in eight consecutive games.

Laurent Brossoit stopped 18 shots in his first loss in his five starts for Anaheim. The Ducks’ power play went 0 for 3 after scoring in eight consecutive games since Oct. 22.

Gauthier extended his streak in the first period, sweeping home his 16th goal in 18 games. He is the first player since 1921-22 to score 12 goals in his team’s first six games of a calendar month.

Gauthier became the first player to score 14 goals in a seven-game stretch since Mario Lemieux and Alexander Mogilny did it in the 1992-93 season. He also extended his goal-scoring streak to seven games and his point streak to a career-best nine games.

But 21 seconds later, Wright batted a loose puck to Struble for his third goal. Wright’s assist was his first point in his fifth game with the Predators, who acquired him from Seattle on Nov. 1.

Hoglander put Nashville up when he got alone in the slot and put his stick between his legs to roof an exceptional shot for his fourth goal. Wright extended the Predators’ lead with a goal set up by Hoglander and captain Roman Josi, who earned his 800th NHL point with the first of two assists.

Veteran forward Troy Terry made his season debut for the Ducks after missing 18 games while recovering from hip surgery in June.

Darius Garland had 24 points and 10 assists, Brook Lopez added 20 points and the Clippers ended a seven-game losing streak with a 139-123 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night.

Gradey Dick and rookie Keaton Wagler each scored 15 points and Rui Hachimura added 14 as the Clippers won for the first time since getting past the Sacramento Kings in the season opener.

The Clippers went on a 15-6 run to open the fourth quarter to take control with a 117-101 lead and finished off the victory after failing to hold on to double-digit fourth-quarter leads in their previous two games.

Trey Murphy III scored 26 points, while Zion Williamson and Jeremiah Fears each added 25 as the Pelicans lost their second consecutive game after a four-game winning streak. Saddiq Bey had 13 points for New Orleans, which was playing the opener of a two-game California trip.

The Pelicans shot 50.6% from the floor while getting held to 52 points in the paint after entering the with 61.6 per game in that department to lead the NBA.

The Clippers took a 124-107 lead with 4:56 remaining on three free throws from Garland and cruised to the victory from there with a season high in points. They shot a season-best 54.8% from the field.

The Clippers led 67-60 at halftime after shooting 52.3% from the field and getting 14 points from Garland, while Williamson had 17 points for the Pelicans. New Orleans opened the second half on an 18-10 run to take their first lead since the opening minute at 78-77.

The Clippers were without center Isaiah Jackson (groin), as well as former Pelicans star Brandon Ingram (heel), who is close to his debut for his new team.

CALGARY, Canada — Cutter Gauthier broke a tie with 1:34 left to extend his goal streak to five games and help the Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.

The Ducks are the first team since the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins to score at least five goals in seven consecutive games.

Gauthier one-timed a pass from Mikael Granlund. He has scored 10 of his 12 goals this season during the five-game streak.

Jeff Malott, Tristan Luneau, Leo Carlsson and Nikita Nesterenko, into an empty net, also scored for the Ducks (9-7-1). Granlund and Beckett Sennecke each had two assists.

William Stromgren, Joel Hanley and Joel Farabee scored for Calgary. Morgan Frost and Zayne Parekh each had a pair of assists as the Flames’ five-game home winning streak ended.

Lukas Dostal started for the Ducks, but was chased after giving up three goals on 11 shots in the first period. Ville Husso, who gave up seven goals in his last appearance, came on in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced. He improved to 2-3-0.

Dustin Wolf, making his third straight start, had 24 stops for Calgary (7-9-1).

The Flames took a 3-2 lead to the third period, but when Matt Coronato was sent off for delay of game 17 seconds in, the Ducks’ red-hot power play took advantage with Carlsson tying it at 55 seconds.

The Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe had an assist to extend his points streak to nine games, the longest in franchise history for a defenseman. He passed Scott Niedermayer (2006-07) and Oleg Tverdovsky (1999-00) on the team list.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. Pittsburgh at Honda Center on Sunday.

PHILADELPHIA — Leo Carlsson scored a goal and set up the game-winner against the team that tried to sign him away from Anaheim last summer, as the Ducks overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 on Saturday.

Philadelphia signed Carlsson to a five-year, $80-million offer sheet as a restricted free agent last July, only to have the Ducks match it and retain him. He scored the Ducks’ first goal at 8:38 of the second period on a pass from Cutter Gauthier, who continued to hear vitriolic chants from Philadelphia fans for forcing his way out of Philadelphia three years ago.

Carlsson later assisted on a power-play goal by Beckett Sennecke in the third period, firing a pass toward the net that Sennecke tipped past Flyers goalie Joseph Woll.

Carlsson leads the Ducks in scoring with 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists).

A.J. Greer, Judd Caulfield, and Tristan Luneau also scored for Anaheim, and Lukas Dostal made 28 saves to snap the Ducks’ five-game losing streak.

Matvei Michkov extended his point streak to five games when he scored the first of two goals for the Flyers on the same power-play opportunity. Michkov snapped a wrister through Porter Martone’s screen during a five-on-three advantage to score his seventh goal of the season. Martone followed 1:03 later to build an early two-goal lead for the Flyers.

Tyson Foerster also scored a goal and Michkov added a second goal in the third period, but Philadelphia never could draw back even, and had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Up next: The Duck begin a three-game homestand Tuesday against Vancouver; the Flyers host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

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Ally Sentnor scored the go-ahead goal in the 43rd minute as Angel City rallied from an early deficit behind three unanswered goals in a 3-2 win on the road against the Denver Summit on Saturday.

Denver forward Melissa Kössler’s tap-in off a corner kick gave Denver (10-10-8) the lead in the second minute. Midfielder Lindsey Heaps’ volley doubled the lead in the 18th. It was her fourth goal in the last three games.

Angel City responded with Sveindís Jónsdóttir scoring in the 32nd minute. Seven minutes later, Taylor Suarez scored to make it 2-2 before Sentnor scored four minutes later.

Gisele Thompson had two assists.

Angel City (13-8-7) is unbeaten in its last eight games.