USC’s night at Camp Randall Stadium turned into a wrestling match it couldn’t win, and the biggest reason was right in the trenches. Wisconsin shoved the Trojans around up front in a 24-7 loss, leaving No. 16 USC with its worst rushing output in nearly 25 years and a passing game that kept getting dragged into the mess.
The Trojans finished with minus-17 rushing yards, their lowest team total since Oct. 9, 1999, at Arizona. They also managed only 241 total yards, their fewest since a 205-yard game at Utah on Oct.
20, 2018. That Utah loss still produced 28 points.
This one didn’t. USC was held to a single score for the first time in Lincoln Riley’s time as a head coach.
The ground game never found a foothold. USC’s 20 designed runs produced just 40 yards, a meager 2.0 yards per carry, and the problems only deepened as the game went on.
King Miller was held to eight yards on 11 carries, while freshman Shahn Alston led the backs with 28 yards on seven attempts. Wisconsin’s defense piled up nine tackles for loss, with linebackers Mason Posa and Sebastian Cheeks combining for five of them and 49 lost yards.
The damage showed up early and often. USC’s first three drives covered 14 plays and 42 yards, and two of those possessions ended with Jayden Maiava interceptions.
The Trojans barely moved the ball on the ground after that: five rushing yards in the first quarter, minus-three in the second and four in the third. By the fourth, the sacks and negative plays had dragged them to minus-23 rushing yards, and Riley called just eight run plays in the second half.
Riley said the offense was able to move the ball at times, but not turn that into points.
"We got to where we were moving it, we just weren't scoring points."
That’s been the frustrating theme of USC’s night. The Trojans had only three drives of 40 or more yards and just two that went beyond 60, yet two of those productive possessions ended with missed field goals. They also finished with just 7-of-15 on third down and converted only 1 of 3 fourth-down tries.
Protection broke down as well, and that made everything harder. Maiava dropped back 55 times, attempted 50 passes and completed 31 for 258 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
USC averaged 3.21 yards per play. According to Pro Football Focus’ initial grading, Maiava was pressured 13 times.
When the pocket tightened, he completed just 2 of 10 passes for eight yards with an interception and posted a 48.4 grade on those snaps. When kept clean, his grade jumped to 85.5.
He was also hit with two intentional grounding penalties as Wisconsin’s pressure kept closing in before receivers could get open. Riley said the Badgers’ pressure looks created problems for USC’s protection calls.
"[ Wisconsin ] brought some max pressures against us a couple of times, and they decided to come after us and they caught us in some calls that we didn't love there, so give them credit,"
He also said the Trojans lost some one-on-one matchups, even with the expectation that Wisconsin’s rush would matter.
He added that the line still had some good moments.
"We had some moments when we protected good too and didn't execute,"
Still, those moments didn’t change the outcome. USC’s last three possessions all ended on downs, including a 13-play, 68-yard drive that stopped at Wisconsin’s 10-yard line with 45 seconds left. Wisconsin held the ball for 32:36 to USC’s 27:24 and ran it 43 times for 142 yards.
Maiava said the loss came down to mistakes across the board, while acknowledging his own part in it.
"I think it was a lot of self-inflicted wounds," Maiava said. "It's just stuff we got to get better at.
Flat out, I didn't play great individually. I just got to deliver better for my teammates."
Riley said he shared in the blame, but he also pointed to the protection issues and missed opportunities in the passing game.
"We just kind of took our turns [making mistakes]," Riley said. "We had a couple of key drops.
We had a couple of missed protections. We missed a few things.
I had several bad calls."
USC had no real answer on either side of the ball when the game tightened. The run game offered no push and few openings, while the passing attack kept running into collapsing pockets and missed chances.
The Trojans now have little time to sort out the damage before No. 5 Ohio State comes to the Coliseum next Saturday on Halloween night. 4:30 p.m.
PDT on NBC.
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