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Barry Alvarez is Wisconsin football royalty, having guided the Badgers to three Rose Bowl victories and more wins than any other coach in program history.
But the retiree did his beloved school no favors this week heading into its showdown with No. 16 USC.
On “The Barry Alvarez Show,” the 79-year-old said the Trojans were “not used to a full stadium with a loud house where they have to deal with the noise.”
Uh, coach?
Did you not notice where USC played its last game? All those fans dressed in white? The deafening din?
Just two weeks ago, the Trojans silenced most of the 114,419 in attendance for Penn State’s White Out at Beaver Stadium, pulling away for a 31-23 victory.
“It feels like a movie,” USC quarterback Jayden Maiava said of playing in that kind of environment.
Alvarez must have missed that given his comments.
“We have the advantage in this situation – huge advantage,” Alvarez said as the Trojans prepared to face the Badgers inside 76,030-seat Camp Randall Stadium. “ … We’re putting Southern Cal in a position they don’t normally get into, so let’s really make it tough on them.”
As if the gist of his message wasn’t incendiary enough, Alvarez added more bulletin-board material by referring to USC as Southern Cal – a nickname the school hates.
Will those words come back to haunt Wisconsin?
Here are five things to watch when the Trojans (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) face the Badgers (4-2, 2-1) at 4:30 p.m. PDT on NBC:
About that noise …
Not only has USC played before sellout crowds in two of its last three games, the Trojans also practice while being bombarded by a sound system that some players have likened to a jet buzzing the field.
The sound system is part of the new $225-million Bloom Performance Center that has enhanced almost every aspect of the Trojans’ program.
Massive speakers attached to light poles at each end of the field replaced an old system in which the team used portable speakers.
“Those are loud,” coach Lincoln Riley said of the old speakers, “but they’re only loud kind of from one source. … The whole hope was when we re-did the facilities that we’d be able to have some type of more surround-sound type system that would help.
“This has been awesome because it’s more life-like. We can control different zones of where it hits, so if like one part of the field doesn’t need noise [it doesn’t get it] and then it’s not all coming from one source, so it spreads it out so much better.”
Strength vs. strength
The outcome could be decided by which team has the most success in what it does best.
A USC pass offense that’s averaging 310.1 yards per game – ranking No. 7 in the nation – will face a Wisconsin pass defense that’s allowing only 171.2 yards – No. 19.
Then again, Riley has been saying he’s seeking more from a run game that’s been only average, producing 152.3 yards per game. This would be a great week for King Miller and Waymond Jordan to stage a breakthrough.
Travel tweaks
After departing on Thursdays for cross-country trips to Rutgers and Penn State, the Trojans left on Friday to play the Badgers.
The need to go only halfway across the country prompted the change.
“This game, it’s not right next door but it’s not completely on the other side of the country,” Riley said. “We had planned on this game that unless we ended up with a really early kickoff that we were going to travel on Friday.
“We’re kind of into the same routine now even had we left on Thursday, just the flight’s on a different day. So the guys are pretty dialed into the road routine and other than flying [Friday], everything’s going to be like it was for Rutgers and Penn State.”
Having started 2-0 in Big Ten road games gives Riley a chance to beat his best single-season road conference record since the Trojans switched conferences before the 2024 season. USC went 1-4 in Big Ten road games in 2024 and 2-2 in 2025.
USC Fully rested?
USC is coming off its first extended break of the season after getting its first bye week.
Players luxuriated in hot and cold tubs, snoozed in nap pods and benefited from extra sessions of red-light therapy intended to accelerate recovery.
“Rested, slept, just continued to recover and get the mind and the body right before this upcoming week,” Maiava said.
Injury report
USC is hopeful that the bye week could help it get close to full strength.
While defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart and linebacker Jadyn Walker are listed as probable, tight end Mark Bowman, wide receiver Luc Weaver and defensive tackle Jide Abasiri are listed as questionable.
Wisconsin running back Darrion Dupree, who ran for 20 yards in 6 carries against UCLA last week, is listed as probable.