BadgerBlitz.com brings back its All-Out Blitz weekly series for the 2024 season, where you can find everything you need to know about Wisconsin's upcoming opponent. We look at UW's third opponent of the season in the USC Trojans, who the Badgers will travel to face Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, 2:30 p.m. on FOX.

QUICK PROGRAM FACTS

Head Coach: Lincoln Riley (76-19 career record, third season at USC)

USC All Time Record: 793-328-40 (.683)

2024 Record: 2-1

Rankings: No. 13 (AP)

Series vs. Wisconsin: 6-1

USC’s offense is led by junior quarterback Miller Moss, who’s finally getting an opportunity to start after two years of sitting behind Caleb Williams.

Moss may not have the same physical talents of Williams or Lincoln Riley’s other Heisman trophy winners, but he’s looked more than capable of leading Riley’s offense early this season.

Through three games, he’s thrown for 891 yards, five touchdowns and an interception, all with a 65% completion percentage.

Riley may not have a Heisman quarterback, but he does have one of the most talented offensive weapons in the Big Ten in receiver Zachariah Branch.

The former #7 player in the 2023 class has all the necessary athleticism and explosiveness that is necessary for success as a receiver, but he’s still yet to truly break out.

His 98 receiving yards against Michigan last week were a career high, and he hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this season.

It’ll be up to Wisconsin’s secondary to ensure his breakout doesn’t happen this week.

They’ll be looking for a bounce-back after struggling mightily against Alabama’s passing attack prior to the bye, allowing receptions of 47, 37, 31 and 26 yards.

Backup cornerback R.J. Delancy was burned a few times against the Tide, including on the touchdown right before the half, so there’s a chance we may see more of freshman Xavier Lucas, who was beginning to earn more playing time prior to the Alabama game.

However, what’s different about this year’s USC team compared to those of recent years is their run game.

Mississippi State transfer Woody Marks has logged 271 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just 42 carries (6.5 yards per carry).

He’s on pace for 1,084 rushing yards in the regular season, which would make him the first 1,000-yard rusher of Riley’s USC era.

Thus, Wisconsin’s defensive front may have just as tough of a time as their secondary.

The Tide implemented a more unconventional running strategy against the Badgers two weeks ago, often using quarterback Jalen Milroe on keepers.

But the Trojans will run straight at them. It’ll be the first real test of the season for Wisconsin’s defensive line and inside linebackers.

Of any player, Saturday might mean the most for linebacker Tackett Curtis, who transferred from USC this past offseason.

Curtis started in place of Jake Chaney last week, who was suspended for targeting in the prior game, and showed some promising flashes.

Braedyn Locke will step in as starting quarterback in place of Tyler Van Dyke, who tore his ACL in the first quarter of the Alabama loss and will miss the rest of the season.

This’ll be the second year in a row where Locke had to step in for an injured starter. He started three games in the middle of last season and looked good-not-great, throwing for 777 yards, five touchdowns and one interception with a 50% completion percentage.

But the first-team reps he received during the offseason quarterback battle should’ve helped his preparation, as opposed to last season when he was the backup from the beginning.

Unlike the Alabama game, there aren’t any major threats in the Trojans’ front.

Edge rusher Jamil Muhammad was one of USC’s best defenders last season, logging 46 tackles and 6.5 sacks, but his first three games have been much quieter.

On the other side, Anthony Lucas hasn’t done anything monumental, but does lead the team in pressures with seven, per Pro Football Focus.

For the Trojan pass defense, the first three games have been frankly uneventful.

They had an eventful season opener, when LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier completed 30-of-39 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns.

Then overpowered Utah State the next week, 48-0, while holding quarterback Bryson Barnes to just 103 passing yards.

Last week, Michigan won by running the ball 46 times and attempting just 12 passes. Alex Orji completed seven of those attempts for 32 yards, all coming within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

This is all to say, they’ve only truly been tested once this season, and allowed an efficient performance.

Against the Tigers, the starting safety duo of Kamari Ramsey and Akili Arnold were targeted a total of 15 times and allowed 11 receptions for 136 yards.

Perhaps offensive coordinator Phil Longo will want to attack this duo in the back-end and draw up some deeper passing plays to his vertical threats, like Bryson Green or the homeward-bound C.J. Williams.

But given their strategy through the first few games, they’ll likely continue to lean on Will Pauling and the short passing game.

They’ll also continue to lean on the run, especially given Michigan’s success against their front last weekend.

The Wolverines racked up 199 rushing yards in the first half but just 91 in the second. So it’s tough to tell which Trojan run defense the Badgers will get on Saturday.

But the Badgers will no-doubt try to establish some sort of running game with their starting duo of Chez Mellusi and Tawee Walker.

But Cade Yacamelli has outpaced Walker in yards so far this year (147 to 92) and they’ll likely turn to him as a change-of-pace back as they have in the first three games.

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