The No. 19 USC Trojans now know exactly when they’ll head to Madison.
The Big Ten announced the Week 8 kickoff windows and TV designations on Oct. 12, locking in USC’s road date with Wisconsin after the Trojans come out of their Week 7 bye. Broadcast and kickoff times had been up in the air, but the conference’s release gave the matchup a clear place on the schedule.
UCLA-Michigan State is also on the radar for USC fans, with that game set for 12 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. PT, while Indiana-Michigan is listed for 9 a.m.
PT on Fox.
USC enters the trip having played seven straight weeks, and the bye arrives before what will be its third road game of the season. The Trojans have won two of five road conference games, and the back-and-forth loss at Rutgers had fueled the usual noise about Lincoln Riley’s road record.
That chatter cooled a bit after USC went into the White Out and beat Penn State. Still, Camp Randall is a different challenge.
Wisconsin brings a 4-1 record and a 2-0 mark in conference play into the matchup, and the Badgers have already shown they can handle a ranked Big Ten opponent at home. They beat Penn State 24-20 in Week 4, and they’ll meet USC’s crosstown rival, No.
12 UCLA, in Week 7. If Wisconsin wins that game, it could add more buzz to the Week 8 meeting while also knocking the Bruins down in the national rankings.
USC’s offense will likely need another clean outing from senior quarterback Jayden Maiava. Against Penn State, he handled the White Out crowd and a tough secondary without blinking, finishing with 301 passing yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers on 21-of-33 passing for 63.6 percent.
The Trojans also had only two offensive penalties in that game. He’ll need that same poise in Madison.
The Wisconsin defense has been sturdy all season. The Badgers are ranked No. 23 nationally in total defense, allowing 18.5 points per game, 258.5 yards per game, 153.8 passing yards per game and a 53.28 completion percentage, which ranks No.
- Through six games, they’ve posted seven sacks, 28 pass deflections and three interceptions.
Senior linebacker Sebastian Cheeks leads the nation with 27 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and Wisconsin generates 19 percent of its pressure through blitzes.
One area that could test USC is the quarterback run game. Running quarterbacks were an early issue for the Trojans, though their front seven tightened up in Week 5 against Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., holding him to 26 rushing yards while producing five sacks and a fumble. Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph could present a similar kind of problem if USC can’t keep that momentum going.
Joseph’s 2025 season at Old Dominion included 2,624 passing yards, 1,007 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns. This year, the senior has thrown for 1,132 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
On the ground, he has 262 rushing yards and three scores on 51 carries. His accuracy can come and go, but he has enough arm talent to hurt a defense deep.
For USC, the key will be forcing him into the passing game and making him win there.
In Other News...
UCLA Puts Its Perfect Start To The Test Against Wisconsin
UCLA arrives at the Rose Bowl carrying real momentum, with a 5-0 start and a No. 12 national ranking after knocking off Oregon. For Wisconsin, this is the kind of early-season measuring-stick game that can say plenty about where the Badgers stand, even after opening 4-1 and putting themselves in position for a meaningful October road test.
The matchup also puts a spotlight on how Wisconsin handles a Bruin offense that has leaned on Wayne Knight and a running game that has been hard to slow. The betting market appears to favor UCLA to keep rolling, but the Badgers have enough on the board already to make this a useful indicator of whether they can hang with a team that has looked the part of a top-15 contender so far. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Fast Start Has Fans Debating Whos Delivering And Who Isnt
Wisconsins 4-1 start and 2-0 mark in conference play have done more than boost the mood around Camp Randall. They have also sharpened the conversation about which players have helped drive the early success and which ones still have room to come around as the season settles in. Through five games, the Badgers have seen some clearly positive surprises emerge from roles that were not always expected to produce this much so soon.
Jacob Harris, Gavin Lahm and Sebastian Cheeks have stood out as players outperforming expectations, while PJ Wilkins, Justus Boone and Abu Sama III have not quite matched the level Wisconsin has needed from them yet. Those kinds of early-season judgments are never final, especially this early in the year, but they do matter for a team trying to keep building on a strong start and sort out where the biggest gains still have to come from. [Read more 🡒]
Colton Joseph Has Extra Motivation For Wisconsins Biggest Road Test
Colton Joseph has a built-in storyline for Wisconsins trip to UCLA, and it starts with the setting as much as the opponent. The quarterback said he is excited to play in his home state and experience the Rose Bowl for the first time, a neat twist for a Badgers team heading into one of its biggest road tests of the season. Coming out of the bye week, Joseph also pointed to the work the offense put in during the break, with the offensive line spending time preparing for the challenge ahead.
Wisconsin has a little extra edge after being left out of the AP Top 25, and Joseph said the group understands the importance of responding on the road. UCLAs defense will demand clean football, and ball security came up as a major point of emphasis in his media availability. With family support in the stands and a familiar backdrop for him personally, Joseph enters the game with more than just a conference matchup on his mind. [Read more 🡒]