USC falls apart in Madison, losing to unranked Wisconsin

Lincoln Riley and his USC Trojans headed into the bye week with serious optimism after knocking off Penn State in front of over 114,000 Nittany Lion fans wearing white. On Saturday evening, however, a complete 180. The Trojans fell flat on their faces at Camp Randall Stadium, losing 24-7 to the Wisconsin Badgers.

Chances of an appearance in the College Football Playoff are now close to none, with USC almost certainly needing to run the table through its final four games. Unfortunately for them, three of those matchups will come against Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA.

"Just flat-out didn't play good enough on any of the three sides of the ball," Riley said after the loss. "Didn't coach good enough, made critical errors on the road...I take responsibility for it. It's hard to win on the road, and you have to play a lot better than we did tonight."

It started with an offensive unit that had perhaps its worst display since Riley took over as head coach of the program. Their lowest point total since his arrival had been 17 before coming 10 short of that mark on Saturday. The Trojans had also not been held under 14 points in a game since 2018.

Jayden Maiava threw the ball a season-high 50 times, completing 31 passes for a single touchdown and two interceptions. Both of his giveaways came in a nightmare first quarter for USC that smothered any sort of opportunity to get off to a fast start on the road.

"Flat out, I just didn't play great," Maiava said. "I got to play better for my teammates."

When things weren't going right through the air, they were somehow going worse on the ground. The Trojans managed to carry the ball 25 times for a total of -17 rush yards. Maiava finished with -57 himself.

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Through all the dismay, USC only found itself trailing 10-7 at halftime thanks to a four-yard touchdown grab from tight end Taniela Tupou in the second quarter. The full unraveling took place in the final 30 minutes of the contest.

The Badgers only continued to expand upon their three-point advantage, which had initially been provided via a five-yard rushing touchdown late in the second quarter from former Trojan Bryan Jackson. 

Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph handed the ball off on six of 10 plays on the Badgers' opening drive of the half, capping it off with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brooks Jr. for the score. USC finished its next drive by seeing Caden Chittenden's 44-yard field goal attempt get blocked.

Joseph led yet another scoring drive in the fourth quarter that chewed nearly eight minutes of clock, with Ryan Schwendeman's one-yard rushing touchdown helping the Badgers extend their lead to 24-7 with just 5:21 to go. On the drive beforehand, it was more disaster from the special teams unit for the Trojans, as Chittenden missed a 58-yard attempt that came up way short. His season-high for a made field goal had been just 39 yards.

By the time the clock had ticked its way to the end of the fourth quarter, USC had taken the form of a team that was discouraged and defeated. They dropped to 6-2 on the season and 3-2 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin, meanwhile, earned its second victory against a ranked opponent and improved to 5-2. 

A tale of total opposites left the Trojans on the embarrassing end of a defeat that will once again have the fanbase calling for Riley's job. This time around, are the complaints genuinely justified? They very well might be.

Wisconsin was simply relentless in the run game, putting the ball on the ground 42 times and accumulating 142 rushing yards. Joseph needed to throw the ball just 14 times and had only 58 passing yards.

Maiava was sacked five times. USC was flagged for six penalties that totaled 51 yards, while Wisconsin committed just four for 30 yards. As Riley said, those are critical errors. You can't expect to win in front of 71,750 at Camp Randall if that's the product.

The noise from critics will be at a new high for the 2026 season, but the Trojans need to pick themselves up off the mat quickly with No. 3 Ohio State coming to the Coliseum on Halloween night. Another performance like Saturday's against the Badgers, and things will get even scarier in Los Angeles. 

One possible beam of light for the Trojans: the Buckeyes will be without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely after injuring his shoulder on Oct. 17 at Indiana. Unfortunately, Jeremiah Smith still exists, and the Heisman frontrunner will be hungry to add another marquee performance to his ledger. 

Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT.