After a week off following a 42-10 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Wisconsin Football team is back in preparation for game week. The Badgers will travel to Los Angeles to face No. 13 USC. The Trojans lose 27-24 in Ann Arbor to Michigan. Kickoff for this match will be at 2:30 PM CST on CBS. Here’s an early look at the USC Trojans.
The Wisconsin football defense will deal with the first passing offense
USC’s offense is fairly balanced, but they threw the ball more than they ran. Through three games, the Trojans passed the ball 130 times compared to 81 shots. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as USC head coach Lincoln Riley is one of the best offensive-minded coaches in the country.
This will be a challenge for the Wisconsin football defense. I would expect USC’s offense to attack early and often. The secondary gave up some huge plays to Alabama and it cost them. They will need to be ready this week as the Trojans may also attack in a hurry.
Balanced receiving unit
Most years, USC will have a wide receiver like Jordan Addison. That’s not the case this year. The Trojans have five players with at least nine catches and four players with at least 116 receiving yards. Zachariah Branch leads both teams with 14 catches and 173 yards but has yet to score.
Why might this be a challenge? Just look at the Green Bay Packers. They don’t have a clear number one tackler (although Jayden Reed looks like one), but they do operate at least four tacklers and have a tight end in every game. Everyone is capable of role-playing and being a guy. It’s good that the Wisconsin defense has had two weeks to prepare for this game because I think they have a lot of offensive players to be reckoned with.
USC’s defense is vastly improved
For years, the problem for USC was that they didn’t play defense and had to win penalty kicks in every game. I felt like Caleb Williams was 45-42 the last two years. This is not a recipe for long-term success.
USC’s defensive stats aren’t impressive this year (five sacks and two interceptions), but they haven’t given up more than 27 points in any of the first three games. This also matters because two of the first three games are a neutral-site game against LSU and an away game against Michigan. That’s pretty impressive, even though it’s a diminutive sample. Given that Wisconsin football quarterback Tyler Van Dyke will be absent for the season, I would expect the USC defense to target Brayden Locke early and often.
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