The 3Cs: Wisconsin Badgers vs. USC Trojans

BadgerBlitz.com's weekly feature, "The 3 Cs," returns for the 2024 season. The staff takes a look at one thing we're curious, confident and concerned about heading into Wisconsin's Week 5 showdown with USC.

Staff writers Seamus Rohrer and Donnie Slusher each give their thoughts on the aforementioned topics for this week's contest.

ROHRER: I’m curious as to what version of Braedyn Locke shows up in Los Angeles.

Locke’s Wisconsin career has been a struggle in consistency, and thus, we’ve seen lots of versions of the gunslinger. We’ve seen him throw slants into the dirt on simple rhythm passes and miss open receivers downfield. We’ve seen him crumble in the pocket, his awareness and IQ that got him to where he is today seemingly out the window. But we’ve also seen him throw no-look touchdown passes against Ohio State, and lead one of the more remarkable comebacks in recent Wisconsin history in his first career start against Illinois. Locke has been wildly all over the place in Madison.

Just like last season when he was unexpectedly thrust into action against Iowa, Locke looked uncomfortable and unsettled against Alabama. What will two full weeks to prepare as the starter do? Can Locke show off the development his play-caller Phil Longo raved about all offseason? USC’s defense is certainly improved from last fall under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn, but that’s an extremely low bar. This isn’t the Crimson Tide or the Hawkeyes — the ball can be moved on these Trojans. Can Locke make it happen?

SLUSHER: I’m curious to see the Badgers’ game plan after an extra week of preparation

When speaking to the players earlier this week, they revealed that the coaching staff moved on from reviewing the disastrous Alabama loss rather quickly, instead devoting the majority of the bye week to Saturday’s USC matchup. In other words, they’ve been preparing for this game for about a week-and-a-half.

It feels safe to say that the Badgers will lean on the run. But after struggling against the Tide, will they tweak their formations and personnel choices? Will we finally see consistent reps from the freshmen?

History shows that Longo doesn’t like to change or tweak much about his offense, but such a devastating loss could’ve led to some real soul-searching.

On the other side, I expect a more aggressive approach, based on defensive coordinator Mike Tressel’s comments to the media on Monday.

“I think that a focus this past week, and Coach Fick might have mentioned it, is really allowing guys to turn it loose, [with] no thinking out there on the football field,” Tressel said.

If they’re gonna send more pressure, the secondary better be ready to cover, especially against some of USC’s receivers. Only time will tell how hyperbolic Tressel’s comments were.

If they come out looking just as unimaginative and stagnant as they did pre-bye, it might be time for true panic to set in, if it hasn’t already.

ROHRER: I’m confident that a certain ex-Trojan will be heavily involved on Saturday.

That would be linebacker Tackett Curtis. It’s something of a homecoming for sophomore, who spent his first year of college ball as a starting Mike linebacker for USC. He understandably had his highs and lows, but his elite traits — instincts, pursuit, physicality — were on full display.

Those same traits have remained extremely apparent in the defensive snaps he’s taken for the Badgers. Curtis didn’t play much through the first three halves of Wisconsin football this season, but when he needed to come off the bench to spell the ejected Jake Chaney against South Dakota, he looked like one of the Badgers’ most instinctive playmakers on defense.

The youngster is still somewhat raw, but his talent makes him impossible to keep off the field, something I believe defensive coordinator Mike Tressel is slowly realizing. Wisconsin’s inside linebackers are a deep room, but no one has flown around and made plays like Curtis has in an admittedly smaller sample size this season. That, coupled with a chance to wreak havoc on his former team, leads me to believe Curtis will get every chance to be a difference-maker in the Coliseum.

SLUSHER: I’m confident that the Badgers will generate some sort of pass rush.

Based on Tressel’s comments regarding aggression, I expect a far more daring and blitz-heavy strategy against the Trojan offense.

During offseason camps, we saw the defense frequently blitz extra rushers while trusting the cornerbacks to lock up in man coverage. However, through three games, Wisconsin’s defense has been pulling their punches and are playing far more conservatively than expected.

In their first two contests, the opposing offenses were so conservative that the Badgers played down to their tempo out of fear of allowing big plays. Then against Alabama, they were already allowing so many big plays that they just played it safe.

Regardless of score, I expect Tressel to send heat on Saturday.

The Trojans’ tackles are the two weaknesses of their offense. The two starters, Elijah Paige and Mason Murphy, have given up a combined 15 pressures this season.

Darryl Peterson, John Pius and Leon Lowery know that they may not face a tackle duo this poor for weeks. For the sake of the room and the entire defense, they must have a productive week.

ROHRER: To be quite honest, name any facet of the game and I likely have several correlated concerns. But I’m extremely worried about Trojan receiver Zachariah Branch’s game-breaking ability.

The slot receiver’s talent has been well documented by us as we’ve previewed this game. He’s a blur when he has the ball in his hands and is one of the shiftiest underclassmen I’ve seen in some time. He’s tantalizingly hard to tackle, and makes defenders who should be well within range of wrapping him up look like they have no shot. When he gets into the open field and that dangling mouthguard starts swinging with every cut, all you can do is hold your breath.

I’m not just worried about Branch as a receiver, although I do have my concerns about how Wisconsin’s corners will fare in coverage against him. I’m worried that the Badgers will play USC extremely close and remain in striking distance until Branch fields one poorly-covered punt or kickoff and trots into the end zone seconds later. I could easily see Wisconsin’s offense and defense coming to play, but allowing Branch to carve up its special teams units in what ultimately becomes the difference in the ballgame.

SLUSHER: I’m concerned that Lincoln Riley will run his way to a win.

To most college football fans, Riley is perhaps most known for coaching three Heisman winners (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield and Caleb Williams). However, Miller Moss is not that. He’s nowhere near as physically talented as the Heisman trio, nor is he used in the same way. But he doesn’t have to carry that load this season, because Riley acquired his best running back in years.

Woody Marks spent four seasons at Mississippi State before transferring to USC this past offseason, where he’s quickly gone from a relative unknown to an undeniable playmaker. In three games, he has 42 carries for 271 yards (6.5 per carry) to go with three touchdowns.

In the most recent two games, he’s managed over 100 yards on just 13 carries in each game. He doesn’t even need a significant carry count to make an impact. Running for 7.7 yards per carry against Michigan’s defensive front is the equivalent of running for 15.0 yards per carry against Wisconsin’s. I doubt the Trojans will have trouble on the ground.

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