Is Locke ready for the bright lights of a sold out LA crowd? Does the bye week help Wisconsin at all? OR is conference play this year going to start very painfully?
Game Preview: USC
Wisconsin at #13 USC
Where: LA Memorial Coliseum
When: Saturday, 9/28 – 2:30 PM (CST)
How to Watch: CBS
Spread: USC -15.5
O/U: 50.5
USC Trojans Current Record: 2-1
(Beat #14 LSU, Lost at #12 Michigan)
A revenge game for 3 Badgers:
3 members of the Wisconsin Badgers are USC transplants that will get to face their former team. First, we have CJ Williams, he was a high 4 star WR prospect who committed to USC out of high school. After 1 year in LA, he jumped ship to give the Dairy Raid a shot in Wisconsin. This is CJ’s second season in Mad Town and he’s currently WR4 on the depth chart. Second, we have LB Tackett Curtis. He started as a freshman last year at USC. Now he’s part of a revitalized LB group in Madison. He’s LB3 for now, but he played very well when Jake Chaney missed time for a targeting ejection. Curtis is a young player with a bright future. Third and finally is a guy USC is happy to be rid of, Alex Grinch. At USC, he was an abysmal DC, at Wisconsin he’s just a safeties coach. The jury is out on whether or not he can revitalize his career working with DC Mike Tressel and defensive oriented HC Fickell.
What to know about USC:
They don’t put names on their jerseys, so be prepared to never know which players on their team are making plays. QB #7, aka Miller Moss, is a top 3 QB in the B1G. I know that’s a low bar, but the last 4 QBs to play for coach Lincoln Riley are all in the NFL (Mayfield, Murrey, Hurts, Williams), and 3 won the Heisman. USC under Riley is famous for having an amazing offense, and an atrocious defense. They appear better on defense this year… but Michigan was able to beat them with only 33 yards passing last week.
Note to Wisconsin – Run Da Ball
Where is Wisconsin at?:
It’s Locke time. TVD is out for the season with a torn ACL, and backup Breadyn Locke is finishing out the season as signal caller. Before the season Longo said he’d be comfortable with either QB as the starter. Let’s see if that was genuine or a load of BS coach speak.
The offense is the more obvious issue since Fickell arrived, but let’s not forget about the defense. Leonhard consistently had Wisconsin rolling out a top 5 unit on the field, and that kept the Badgers in every game. Now under Tressel, the Badgers are very middling, in the 40-50 range for most defensive metrics. The D-Line and lack of a pass rush will continue to be a problem unless something changes. Alabama did whatever they wanted on the way to scoring 42; I don’t see why USC won’t do the same.
Wisconsin has 2 schedule advantages going into this game.
- Locke has 2 weeks to prep as the starter because of Bucky’s week 4 bye.
- USC just lost at Michigan in a physical, draining road trip across the county.
But this game is still AT USC.
Prediction:
Wisconsin 24
USC 49
Wisconsin hasn’t covered a spread yet this season. I don’t expect the team’s first road game of the season to be any different. USC gets a massive lead early, then the Wisconsin offense finally gets some garbage time points when the freshman RBs are given a shot to prove themselves.
Let’s all hope I’m wrong.
#BuckyByAMillion
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This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene