Wisconsin stifles No. 16 USC, quarterback Jayden Maiava to earn 24-7 upset win

Wisconsin rolled to a surprisingly dominant upset against No. 16 USC on Saturday, beating the Trojans 24-7 win at home. The Badgers offense delivered off the back of a stellar defensive performance, holding USC to just seven points and prompting a field rush in Madison.

Nothing was going right for USC’s offense right from the start. Maiava was picked off twice in the first quarter alone, taking five total sacks for a significant loss. Kicker Caden Chittenden, meanwhile, missed both of his field goals attempts in the second half, with one getting blocked by the Badgers defense and another lengthy try falling short.

After the Trojans pulled ahead with a second-quarter touchdown, the Badgers re-took the lead with a touchdown on the next play, before finding the end zone again off a great fourth-down play from Chris Brooks Jr. to open the third quarter.

After Maiava took his fourth sack — an absolute monster, for a loss of 22 yards — in the fourth quarter, the Trojans were forced to figure things out on fourth and long. Initially, USC went for a field goal fake, but the play was negated with a delay of game penalty due to a late substitution.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley, visibly frustrated by the call after he claimed he was trying to call a timeout, then chose to have Chittenden go for a 58-yard field goal attempt. It did not work: Chittenden’s kick was well short.

Wisconsin got one more touchdown for the road in the fourth quarter: Running back Bryan Jackson II got the Badgers most of the way there, before tight end Ryan Schwendeman lined up at fullback and got pushed on top of the pile and just over the line.

USC kept pushing to try and get one last score, but Wisconsin’s defense got a fourth-down stop in the red zone to seal the deal on a huge victory.

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell was blunt about the win after the game: “Pretty ain't pretty, but that's who we are,” he said on the NBC broadcast.

However, the Badgers defense really was a thing of beauty. Wisconsin put intense pressure on Maiava throughout the game: In addition to the five sacks, Maiava was called for intentional grounding twice in the second half, as USC’s attempts to score got increasingly desperate. And though the Trojans picked up 258 passing yards from Maiava, they were held to -17 rushing yards in a show of Wisco dominance.

This story will be updated.