The Wisconsin Badgers played their fourth game of the 2024 season and first conference game on Saturday afternoon, losing to the USC Trojans, 38-21.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from Wisconsin’s loss.

After 30 minutes, it felt like the storm that had begun two weeks ago against Alabama was beginning to pass.

The Badgers were up 21-10 at halftime. Quarterback Braedyn Locke was completing big passes, the offensive line was creating space for touchdown runs and Wisconsin was forcing mistakes instead of making them.

Then the second half began. And the storm returned.

The difference could, arguably, be chalked up to USC’s superior talent.

After an uncomfortable first half, Miller Moss began to evade pressure and complete necessary passes. The Trojans’ vertical threats, namely Deuce Robinson, were winning almost every one-on-one against Wisconsin’s secondary. Running back Woody Marks reminded the Badgers that they can’t withstand a strong rushing attack with such a depleted defensive line.

But the Badgers ultimately dug their own hole.

After the defense forced a three-and-out on USC’s first possession of the second half, receiver Tyrell Henry muffed a punt which gave them the ball on Wisconsin’s 30-yard-line. The Trojans soon cut the lead to four, 21-17.

The next time the Badgers had the ball, they attempted a run out of the shotgun on 4th-and-1 which, unsurprisingly, didn’t work.

This is when they became indistinguishable from their pre-bye selves.

USC more-than-doubled Wisconsin’s time of possession (40:07 to 19:53), and it showed. The Badger front couldn’t pressure Moss as effectively as the game wore on, and the secondary began to lose the important one-on-one balls.

Ultimately, Wisconsin showed that one half of success isn’t nearly enough to beat any team worth a damn. The Trojans came back last weekend against Michigan after trailing in the first half and showed their perseverance once again.

The Badgers showed that they still have a ways to go before they’re on the level of a real Big Ten team like USC (which still feels wrong to say).

Wisconsin’s play declined as the game went on, and so did Locke’s. His first half was so impressive that the season outlook seemed to be changing in real time.

Just four plays into their first drive, Locke uncorked a deep pass for receiver Vinny Anthony, who burned his defender on a go-route and used his track speed to create Wisconsin’s longest touchdown of the season (63 yards).

He took a similar chance in the second quarter when he completed a 35-yard pass to Bryson Green that set up their third, and final, score of the game.

But like with the rest of the team, his powers seemed to run out after halftime. Of his 180 passing yards, only 50 came in the second half.

He attempted less deep passes, and the ones he did try failed. The simple passes weren’t working, either. The dagger pick-six in the fourth quarter came as a result of a bobbled catch from Trech Kekahuna, yet Locke’s pass was still well behind his target.

Yet despite the errors, he still showed enough necessary flashes to provide hope for the remainder of the season.

They need to continue to take shots, and perhaps even more. It wouldn’t hurt to draw more easy plays for Will Pauling, who had an unexpected rough day with just two catches for 11 yards and two drops.

His play arguably caused their decline, or he was merely a victim of it, depending on who you ask. Regardless, he showed enough flashes to give the coaching staff material to work with.

Defensive coordinator Mike Tressel told the media earlier this week that their biggest priority of the bye week was increasing aggression.

“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 on Monday.

They improved in some ways, especially in the first half, but still allowed the Trojans back into the game.

The pass rush definitely improved.

After allowing Jalen Milroe to do whatever he wanted two weeks ago, the front seven gave Moss all they could before tiring out. The secondary wasn’t disruptive enough as the game progressed and allowed the receivers to win one-on-one battles and score easily.

Even the decisions were conservative. On the pivotal 3rd-and-15 during their first touchdown drive of the second half, they only rushed three and allowed Moss to easily complete a first-down pass, which set up the score three plays later.

They could point to the time of possession disparity and chalk the lack of aggression up to fatigue. But if they want to hang with the real Big Ten teams, they can’t fizzle out after 30 minutes.

The coaches could lean more on those deeper in the depth chart. Defensive linemen like Dillan Johnson and linebackers like Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis have shown plenty of aggression when they’ve seen the field.

As the season wears on and injuries pile up, they’re gonna need a full 60 minutes of quality, energetic football in order to survive their schedule. Or else they’ll subject themselves to more eventual disappointment.

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