USC heads into Saturday night’s trip to Camp Randall Stadium carrying both momentum and a long injury list.
The No. 16 Trojans, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, face Wisconsin in a game that carries real weight for their conference title push and College Football Playoff hopes.
With five games left, the margin for error is shrinking fast, and a road win would set up an even bigger test back in Los Angeles on Halloween night against a Julian Sayin-less, No. 3 Ohio State team.
USC is hoping to get some help back for the matchup, with true freshman tight end Mark Bowman still the biggest name to watch. Bowman has missed the last two games against Washington and Penn State with an undisclosed injury, and he remains questionable for Saturday night.
Here’s the Trojans’ availability picture from Friday’s Big Ten report:
Terrell Anderson, wide receiver
Corey Simms, wide receiver
Kendarius Reddick, safety
Taylor Johnson, linebacker
Roman Marchetti, linebacker
Kilian O'Connor, offensive lineman
Mark Bowman, tight end
Luc Weaver, wide receiver
Jide Abasiri, defensive tackle
Jahkeem Stewart, defensive tackle
Jadyn Walker, linebacker
The road task is straightforward on paper and anything but simple in practice. Wisconsin is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, and USC’s only previous meeting with the Badgers since joining the conference came last season - a 38-21 win at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 28, 2024.
USC also owns the edge in the all-time series, 7-1, with Wisconsin’s lone win coming in the 2015 Holiday Bowl, a 23-21 result. With USC a three-point favorite, that kind of tight finish is the sort of game Wisconsin would need to spring the upset.
And the stakes are bigger than one Saturday night result. A loss to Wisconsin would put a serious dent in USC’s College Football Playoff path, with the Trojans likely needing to win out to reach the 12-team field for the first time in program history.
That would still leave three top-10 opponents on the schedule: No. 3 Ohio State on Oct.
31, No. 6 Indiana on Nov. 14, and No.
9 UCLA on Nov. 28.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives USC a 17.5 percent chance to make the CFP, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, and Iowa.
One of the biggest keys on Saturday will be how USC handles Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph, who leads the Badgers in both passing and rushing. Defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said the Trojans spent the bye week preparing for that type of challenge.
“Almost every single team in college nowadays has a quarterback who can run,” VanSumeren said. “That’s popular, and we faced a lot of them this season.
But we’ve done a good job. Yet just because we’ve done a good job in the past doesn’t guarantee success in this game.
So we’ve done a really good job emphasizing it over the bye week."
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava will also be central to the night. He leads the Big Ten in passing with 2,045 yards, 18 touchdowns, and three interceptions, and he’ll look to keep building on his play from the Trojans’ 31-23 road win over Penn State before the bye.
Maiava will have help from a young receiving group that includes Trent Mosley, Tanook Hines, and Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, all of whom made an impact in that win over the Nittany Lions.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PT at Camp Randall Stadium, with the game set for NBC.
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USC Defense Just Got A Boost It Desperately Needed
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Lincoln Riley has pointed to Newbys presence as something the team feels beyond the box score, especially on defense and special teams. For a USC group heading into the next stretch of games, getting that kind of energy and leadership back on the field matters almost as much as the physical boost, even if the full impact of his return is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
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Now a junior at USC, Abasiri has moved from an unlikely beginning to real NFL buzz, with early draft attention already circling him for 2027. For the Trojans, that kind of trajectory matters because it speaks to both his ceiling and his development, and it also adds another layer to a player whose path to prominence was anything but conventional. [Read more 🡒]
USC Offense Faces One Mistake It Can't Afford Against Wisconsin
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The Badgers have enough on that side of the ball to make life difficult if USC gets loose with possession or tries to force plays that are not there. Against a defense that can stay organized and capitalize on errors, the Trojans will need cleaner execution than usual, because one turnover or one bad decision could be the difference in a game that already looks like it will demand patience and precision. [Read more 🡒]