No. 13 Southern California returns home still seeking its first-ever Big Ten Conference win when the Trojans welcome Wisconsin to Los Angeles on Saturday.
USC (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) had its conference debut spoiled last week on the road against reigning national champion Michigan. After trailing most of the way, the Trojans rallied to take a 24-20 lead with 7:01 remaining on Miller Moss’ 24-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Kobi Lane.
However, Michigan’s 89-yard, 10-play drive that culminated with a final-minute touchdown run sent USC to a 27-24 defeat. The loss exposed concerns for the Trojans about line play, especially on offense.
USC surrendered four sacks and amassed just 96 total rushing yards. The Trojans’ line woes included left tackle Elijah Paige playing through what coach Lincoln Riley on Tuesday described as “cramping pretty heavily.”
“Certainly didn’t help,” Riley said. “Then we played against some good players in a tough atmosphere. We made some adjustments, and that’s part of it. On the topic of the whole group, we all have to be better there. … There was plenty of opportunities in that game where we were blocking just fine, and we missed several opportunities that way, too.”
Moss passed for three touchdowns and 283 yards despite facing heavy duress, but he was intercepted for a Will Johnson pick-six that proved critical to the final outcome. The Trojans’ front faces more uncertainty with tight end Lake McRee sidelined due to a knee injury sustained at Michigan.
Blocking was a major concern for USC the last time it faced Wisconsin, a 23-21 Badgers win in the 2015 Holiday Bowl. Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy sacked USC’s Cody Kessler on three consecutive plays in that game, the first win for the Badgers over the Trojans in seven tries.
Wisconsin, set for its Big Ten opener, will play at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1966. The Badgers (2-1, 0-0) are coming off of a bye week after falling 42-10 to No. 4 Alabama on Sept. 14 in Madison, Wis.
“(The bye week is) an opportunity for a couple things: to self-scout yourself,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said this week. “And it was another opportunity for Braedyn Locke to get a lot more reps now that we’re in the situation that Tyler (Van Dyke) is done for the year.”
After leading Wisconsin to blowout wins over Western Michigan and South Dakota to start the season, Van Dyke, a Miami transfer, was knocked out of the Alabama game with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. He subsequently underwent season-ending surgery.
Locke stepped in against the Crimson Tide to go 13 of 26 for 125 yards with a touchdown throw to Will Pauling.
Those were Locke’s first snaps since a stretch midway through the 2023 season in which he threw for five total touchdowns against Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana but struggled with his accuracy.
Locke completed fewer than 52 percent of his pass attempts in each of the four games in which he saw significant action last year.
This week marks the second in as many Big Ten outings for USC facing an opponent with a quarterback making his first start of the season.
The Trojans saw Alex Orji a week ago and limited the Wolverines quarterback to 32 yards on 7-of-12 passing, but USC surrendered 290 rushing yards in the loss.
