The Badgers were going to need a nearly flawless performance, especially defensively, to upset a team like No. 16 USC that's loaded with NFL talent at the skill positions.
That's exactly what they got. Defensive coordinator Mike Tressel authored an absolute masterclass, holding USC to seven points and easily its worst offensive showing on the season.
On the other side of the ball, the Badgers did just enough — namely on the ground — to control the pace of the game and move the ball. The result was a 24-7 win that, despite feeling close until the final five or so minutes of the fourth quarter, was a dominant effort in a lot of ways.
Below, I've got a handful of takes and reactions as we continue to unpack the Badgers' huge Week 8 win at Badgers On SI:
Wisconsin has one of the best defenses in the country
I know it gave up 41 points to Notre Dame. I know it got beaten by a backup quarterback last week at UCLA. But these Badgers are ferocious, relentless and absolutely nobody runs the ball on them.
USC's -17 rushing yards is the most eye-popping number on the stat-sheet. The Trojans' longest run was a seven-yard scamper from tailback Shan Alston. Wisconsin not only contained USC to a hilarious -0.7 yards per carry, it racked up nine TFLs, flying into the backfield with regularity.
The interior of the defensive line, namely Hammond Russell IV and Junior Poyser, were impermeable. The outside backers, especially Sebastian Cheeks, set edges beautifully and pressured Trojans' quarterback Jayden Maiava all night long. The inside linebacker duo of Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano was its usual, disruptive self. The secondary notched two interceptions and held Maiava to his second-lowest completion percentage (62%) and yardage total (258) on the season.
One of my favorite aspects of this defensive performance, though, were the tweaks Tressel made. He brought exotic blitzes all night. He played more man coverage than he typically does, something I've been pushing for all season. It was one of his more creative game-plans in his three-plus years in Madison.
I'm not sure how you attack this defense right now. Other than a tendency to shoot itself in the foot with penalties, it has no real weaknesses.
Badgers' offense finally finds push up front
Wisconsin continued to tinker with its starting five up front. The Badgers kept Stylz Blackmon at center and trotted out Barrett Nelson at guard for his first start of the season, sending PJ Wilkins to the bench. Center Austin Kawecki was available, but Wisconsin elected to keep Blackmon at center rather than have Kawecki, who has a broken right hand, try to snap with his left.
The result was ground game that wasn't exactly eye candy, but it got the job done. On the Badgers' final touchdown drive — a drive on which ex-Trojan tailback Bryan Jackson ran for 26 yards and nearly got the nail-in-the-coffin touchdown — you could sense that Wisconsin had complete control of the line of scrimmage. Slowly but surely, it had pounded the USC defense into submission.
Abu Sama had 17 carries, a season-high, and he also caught two passes including a swing pass on the Badgers' first drive; there was a clear prerogative to get him the ball, and rightfully so. Though Sama didn't have any huge highlight-reel runs, he averaged a solid 4.2 yards per carry and made plenty of Trojans miss in the process.
If this passing game could even be average...
Wisconsin could be one of the most dangerous teams in the Big Ten. We're not quite there yet, but with how terrifying this defense is, and with Sama and the legs of quarterback Colton Joseph, an even moderately operational passing game would make these Badgers a handful for just about anyone.
Joseph has a meager 124 passing yards over his last two games combined. That's a shockingly low number, especially because the last two games now include a win over the No. 16 team in the country.
Not having wide receiver Malachi Coleman on the field certainly hurt the explosiveness of this arial attack, but Joseph was still 12-of-14 passing; he was accurate and took care of the football. There was just zero downfield passing game to speak of.
Add us as a preferred source on Google