The remainder of USC football’s schedule is one of the toughest in college football. In fact, ESPN’s College Football Power Index ranks the Trojans’ remaining strength of schedule as the fourth-most difficult out of all FBS teams.
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They’re behind only Texas A&M, LSU and Arkansas – all SEC teams – meaning they’re the highest-ranked Big Ten Conference team in that category.
Three top-10 teams await the Trojans in the coming weeks, but first comes unranked Wisconsin. It’s a potential trap game if USC gets distracted by the following week’s matchup against No. 3 Ohio State.
“It’s on the road,” Trojans safety Prophet Brown said of why this one is important. “Road wins in this conference are huge. And it’s the next game on our schedule. You gotta win this week in order to get to next week with the record we want. We’re excited for it.”
The Trojans are favored by three points, and few of them have ever played at the Badgers’ Camp Randall Stadium. The last time Wisconsin hosted USC was Sept. 25, 1965, which was a 26-6 USC victory.
Tight end Tucker Ashcraft, who was at Wisconsin for three seasons before transferring to USC, is the most familiar with the environment, which includes a high-energy rendition of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” between the third and fourth quarters.
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It’ll be the second tough stadium in a row after the Trojans beat Penn State 31-23 prior to last week’s bye week in front of a White Out game crowd of 114,419 fans at State College.
“Home teams do certain rituals to affect the away team,” Trojans freshman defensive end Luke Wafle said. “But when you kind of just use their ritual, it becomes a non-factor. We’re not fazed when it comes to the ‘Jump Around’ time or (Penn State’s) ‘Mo Bamba’ or anything like that.”
USC is one of nine Big Ten teams with one loss or less, complicating the Trojans’ path to a program-first College Football Playoff appearance and making this Wisconsin game a must-win.
When Wisconsin has the ball
The Badgers’ rushing attack is its strength on offense, and they gain 152.17 yards per game on the ground as opposed to their 199.7 yards through the air – which is third worst in the Big Ten.
Running backs Abu Sama III and Darrion Dupree have rushed for 230 yards and 221 yards, respectively, but the team’s leading rusher is quarterback Colton Joseph with 369 yards and four touchdowns.
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Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell is asking for more out of Joseph’s passing game after he completed a season-low 37.5% of his passes (6 for 16) for 66 yards in last week’s 17-7 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
“It’s been a focus for us of making sure that look, we’re not pigeon-holing you into only doing certain things,” Fickell told reporters Monday.
USC’s defense has seen mobile quarterbacks this season, particularly Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. The Trojans limited him to 26 rushing yards in their 25-21 win over the Huskies.
“Communication is big,” Brown said, “because with a running quarterback, you need all 11 defenders to defend. You can’t have nobody free because the quarterback’s basically running back, which gives them an extra blocker.”
When USC has the ball
The Trojans have one of the most efficient offenses in the Big Ten, ranking first in third-down conversions (51.2%), fourth-down conversions (75%) and first downs (177). Quarterback Jayden Maiava is coming off his third game of the season with 300 or more passing yards.
Wisconsin’s defense gives up few explosive plays, so Maiava may lean towards screens or hitting receivers on flats and quick slants. The Badgers have given up a conference-low 39 passes of 10 yards or more.
Sophomore Cooper Catalano leads the Badgers’ linebacking corps with 50 total tackles and Sebastian Cheeks, an outside linebacker, is an exceptional pass rusher with 3.5 tackles for a loss of 28 yards and 2.5 sacks for a loss of 26 yards.
“Knowing that we have to get to our routes a little faster, knowing that the O-line doesn’t have all day,” USC freshman wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt said of the linebackers. “They got pretty good players coming off the edge. So, just being on the same page as everyone and being on the same page with Jayden is just going to be important this week.”
USC is expecting offensive linemen Elijah Paige and Hayden Treter to return this week after previously missing playing time due to injury. Neither was listed on the Thursday Big Ten availability report.
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No. 16 USC (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) at Wisconsin (4-2, 2-1)
When: 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday
Where: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin
TV/Radio: NBC (Ch. 4)/710 AM