Wisconsin football loses at Southern Cal

Unfortunately for the Badgers games last four quarters.

Wisconsin blew a two-score lead and was blanked in the second half in a 38-21 loss at the LA Memorial Coliseum, spoiling the Badgers’ hopes for a belief-injecting upset against the No. 13 Trojans (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten).

Wisconsin (2-2, 0-1) capitalized on USC mistakes in the first half but couldn’t generate drives without the help of its opponent’s errors after the break. The Badgers had just two second-half drive reach USC territory in the second half, both of which ended with turnovers on downs. The first series ended with a failed fourth-and-1 run by Tawee Walker, and the second — set up by a long kick return by receiver Vinny Anthony — ended with a pass short of the sticks inside the Trojans’ red zone. 

USC quarterback Miller Moss was 30 of 45 passing for three touchdowns and an interception and added a rushing touchdown.

Here’s a game ball and three things that stood out.

It’s the rare group award, but the Trojans receivers won seemingly every 50-50 ball and made catches despite great positioning. Ja’Kobi Lane led the way with 10 catches, 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Honorable mention: Wisconsin receiver Vinny Anthony (3 catches, 70 yards, TD, fumble recovery, 74-yard kick return)

USC simply made too many plays on third down to keep drives alive and it killed Wisconsin’s chance at an upset.

The Trojans converted on five consecutive third downs in the third quarter to reclaim the lead, with two of those conversions resulting in touchdowns. The second-half streak was over when a third-and-2 run was stopped short midway through the fourth quarter, but Moss kept an option run on the ensuing fourth down, dodged safety Hunter Wohler and scored from 7 yards out.

USC was 11 of 17 on third down facing an average distance of 5.8 yards, while the Badgers went 2 of 10, including 1 of 6 in the second half. 

Wisconsin’s inability to create big plays on offense was the biggest lament of the first three games, but the defense hadn’t done much to swing momentum when it was on the field. That changed in the first half against the Trojans.

The Badgers notched three turnovers — a fumble recovery by Anthony off a muffed punt, a Preston Zachman interception and a strip-sack by Austin Brown recovered by Ben Barten. Anthony’s recovery led to a touchdown on the next play, while Zachman and Brown’s plays halted USC drives that were building steam.

There was a noticeable difference in the confidence the Badgers defense played with after creating turnovers.

But two turnovers in the third quarter, one on a muffed punt and the other on downs, swung the momentum to the other side.

Braedyn Locke played the best half of his college career to this point to start the game. He hit deep passes to Anthony and Bryson Green (35 yards) but went into the locker room completing 50% of his passes.

He had throws that were zipped into tight windows, like the completion over the middle to Will Pauling in the second quarter, and the aggressiveness to take shots down the field to create chunk plays. But there were too many throws not in the vicinity of a target or mistimed with when the receiver expected the ball. Wisconsin has to hope those issues get ironed out with more practice time with Locke as the starter.