3 USC Trojans most to blame for loss to Wisconsin

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3 USC Trojans most to blame for loss to Wisconsin

Bryan Logan, ClutchPoints

Tue, October 27, 2026 at 1:43 AM UTC ·

5 min read

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USC has lost its second game of the season, dropping to 6-2 on the year. After a 4-0 start, USC lost to Oregon 41-27. They would rebound to defeat Washington and Penn State before losing to Wisconsin 24-7. USC fans were ready to fire Lincoln Riley after the loss.

It was once again a complete failure for the Trojans when they were in a prime position to make a run at the playoffs. USC had some solid plays on defense. They held Wisconsin to just 200 yards of total offense. Further, Wisconsin was six of 12 on third down. They held Colton Joseph to just 58 yards passing, but it was on 12 of 14 attempts, with a touchdown.

Still, the offense was dreadful. USC managed just seven points overall and did not score in the second half. As the team struggled to score and took another loss, there are three areas where the blame for the loss needs to be placed.

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Jayden Maiava struggled

Scott Ash / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC put a lot on Jayden Maiava to win this game, and he did not do anything to help his team. While he completed a career-high 31 passes, it was also on 50 attempts. He finished the game with just 258 yards passing, with a touchdown. He was also intercepted twice in the game. Maiava struggled in the second half on big plays. On the first drive of the second half, USC was moving the ball, but a third-and-nine play resulted in an intentional grounding penalty, ending the drive. USC attempted a field goal, and it was blocked.

On the next drive, he attempted to extend a second-down play, but instead was sacked for a ten-yard loss. The next play would be an eight-yard completion inside Wisconsin territory, but once again, the field goal was missed. The next two drives he had incomplete passes on fourth down, ending both of them.

Maiav also struggled with pressure. He was pressured 17 times on 55 dropbacks. This led to five sacks, two intentional grounding penalties that both came in the second half, and two interceptions that both came in the first quarter. Maiava is now a senior and expected to make big plays. He did anything but that in this game with Wisconsin.

The offensive line was dreadful

While Maiava was not good under pressure, the offensive line was horrible. USC ran the ball 25 times for negative 17 yards. Five of those runs were the five sacks of Maiava. Even without sack yardage, the team ran for just 40 yards on 20 attempts. That is good for only two yards per carry. Adding to the embarrassment, the longest run of the day for a USC running back was just seven yards. Wisconsin also did this without the help of the blitz, rendering the USC offense one-dimensional. Considering how Maiava was playing, this was massive.

Further, the Badgers were able to get pressure on Maiava and get home. Coming into the game, Wisconsin had just 12 sacks on the year, and were one of the worst in the nation in both pressure rate and sack rate. That all changed on Saturday. Sebastian Cheeks had 2.5 sacks in the game, while he had just 2.5 all year before the game. Mason Posa had 1.5 sacks in the game, his first sacks of the season.

Tobias Raymond struggled heavily in the contest. He allowed multiple pressures from his center position, while struggling with pre-snap communication. Still, it was the right side of the offensive line that was dreadful. Justin Tauanuu and Alani Noa were the two worst-graded offensive linemen and gave up multiple pressures plus stops in the backfield in the running game. If the line cannot protect at a top level, USC is in trouble. They finish the season with games against Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland, and UCLA, which could easily lead to three more losses.

Lincoln Riley failed again

Lincoln Riley did something in this game that he has never done before. It was an event noticed by Scott Wolf of Inside USC.

"But never in my wildest dreams would I imagine Wisconsin would hold Riley to 7 points, the first time in his 10-year-career his team failed to score double digits. Wisconsin had 58 yards passing and only 200 yards of offense and still won by 17 points," Wolf wrote.

The play calling under Riley was dreadful. Multiple times in short-yardage situations, USC got cute with the play calling. The running game was doing well, but instead of running the ball, it was put in the hands of Maiava, who was struggling with pressure.

In the Big Ten, games are won at the line of scrimmage, and Riley has failed to address both sides of the line. The struggles of the offensive line have already been pointed out, but the defensive line was not much better. Colton Joseph dropped back to pass 17 times. He was pressured on seven of them. All seven of them were on blitz packages, and the defensive line did not create a single pressure without the blitz.

Still, the biggest knock has to be on the offense. Riley spent seven seasons as an offensive coordinator between his time at East Carolina and Oklahoma before becoming the Oklahoma head coach. The fact that Wisconsin had just 200 yards of offense but still won the game is proof that the offense is not working at USC. With all the talent USC brings in on offense, the failure to score shows it is time for USC to move on from Riley.

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