The Wisconsin Badgers suffered a terrible blowout on Saturday when they lost a 38-21 game to the USC Trojans, falling to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

The Badgers took an early 21-10 lead at halftime, but faltered on both ends in the second half as USC capitalized on mistakes to cruise to a comfortable victory and earn their first-ever win in the Big Ten.

Here’s our recap of the Badgers’ 38-21 loss to USC on Saturday.

First half

This game was exciting from the start as the Badgers won the toss and elected to wait for the second half, meaning their first challenge came on defense.

Things started badly for Wisconsin, which was hampered by a strange 15-yard facemask penalty on its first kickoff, although that resulted in a touchback, leading to USC starting at its 40-yard line.

After a quick first down to open the drive, USC didn’t get much traction, but was taken out of the game by a costly offsides penalty by Jaheim Thomas on 3rd-and-7, which allowed them to run on consecutive downs and one-up after the pass Secure first down one quarter down.

Right after, quarterback Miller Moss threw a dime to wideout Ja’Kobi Lane, who made an incredible one-handed catch over cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean’s great coverage for a 32-yard score. It was unclear whether his feet remained inbounds when he made the catch, but the score was confirmed anyway and USC opened the game with the lead.

The Badgers responded quickly, however, as the running game helped gain a first down before Braedyn Locke delivered a great 63-yard touchdown pass to Vinny Anthony, who made a nice double play to make it a 1-on-1 to take a big lead from the outside without any security help. Just like that, a draw.

From there, defenses held firm on consecutive drives and forced two punts, the latter coming behind a 74-yarder by Atticus Bertrams, which Wisconsin nullified at the 1-yard line thanks to a poor performance from returner Zachariah Branch.

USC overcame poor field position with a 10-yard run on 3rd-and-9 at its own 2-yard line and appeared to gain momentum by attacking the Badgers’ linebackers in run defense, but Preston Zachman saved the day with an incredible interception in the 1-on-1 slot against Zachariah Branch.

While the Badgers couldn’t immediately capitalize on the takeaway, Wisconsin capitalized on another Branch error as the punt returner had a costly muff that UW quickly recovered thanks to an 18-yard touchdown from Tawee Walker. That gave the Badgers an early 14-7 lead, with the traveling Wisconsin fans cheering on the team here at the Coliseum.

USC didn’t go away without a fight, however, as they again relied on linebacker Jaheim Thomas, which led to a 25-yard catch by Zachariah Branch. Thomas later made another costly mistake, going offside again on a 3rd & long to make it 3rd & 3 in Wisconsin territory.

But after the Trojans picked up a first down and entered the red zone on a 4th & 1 on their next play, a costly false start forced USC to kick the field goal instead of going for it and pushing for a touchdown, kept the lead at 14-10 Wisconsin.

Wisconsin looked for an answer in its running game, and it came when Cade Yacamelli and Tawee Walker scored the first first down on consecutive runs. But then the Badgers continued to explode in the air as Braedyn Locke hit Bryson Green on a 1-on-1 for a 35-yard gain, with the wideout making a nice correction for the underthrown ball to capture.

Locke then hit a nice shot over the middle to Will Pauling before Riley Nowakowski found a play-action trap that led to consecutive first downs and gave the Badgers a score-to-go situation. From there, Tawee Walker struck and the Badgers jumped out to a 21-10 lead.

The back-and-forth battle was unstoppable, however, as USC took the lead again and Miller Moss threw five straight passes to start the drive (one of which was an end-around).

Gains of 15, 14 and 15 yards put the Trojans right back within striking distance, but the defense held from there with a nice run stop on first down before a well-timed backside blitz from Mike Tressel got Austin Brown stripping. Firing Moss for a big mistake.

Looking to burn off the remaining 3:30, the Badgers ran the football at full speed on their next drive and drove into USC territory. But a big drop by Will Pauling on 2nd-and-8 at the USC 44-yard line stalled the drive and the Badgers eventually stumbled into plus territory.

The half ended with Wisconsin leading 21-10 with everyone having momentum as they started the second half with the ball.

2nd half

Wisconsin’s first drive of the second half was short-lived as they struggled on the ground on first and second downs, leading to a quick three-pointer.

Defensively, however, they held tight in coverage on three consecutive plays, with Preston Zachman holding up on two of those occasions. But things went downhill from there.

Forced to hit a three-pointer, the Trojans got a big chance when returner Tyrell Henry thwarted the punt, giving USC good field position.

Wisconsin still made things difficult defensively and made some big plays (Fourqurean PBU, Hallman stop on the screen, Austin Brown PBU in the end zone), but USC found a way to respond to the bell when their backs were against the wall stood.

Moss found Ja’Kobi Lane for first downs on 3rd-and-7 and 3rd-and-15 before the wideout scored another touchdown and a fade in the end zone to Xavier Lucas to close the lead to 21-17 shorten.

Needing a quick reaction to stop USC’s momentum, Braedyn Locke converted a crucial 3rd & 7 with a well-placed ball on a curl route to Bryson Green, gaining 15 yards of play. Wisconsin was able to advance to the USC 33-yard line, but faced a big decision on 4th-and-1.

After a timeout on the field, the Badgers trotted out in shotgun and ran the ball like they had in the past. However, they worked in vain as USC’s outside edges hit hard, forcing the stop. The questionable play-calling proved costly as it killed a Wisconsin scoring opportunity and gave the red-hot Trojans the ball back and a chance to take the lead.

USC marched down the field again and picked up three first downs before dealing with another crucial third down. Miller Moss faced on third-and-7 at the Wisconsin 43-yard line and delivered a sweet slot fade to Duce Robinson, who hauled in the tough catch over Austin Brown in coverage.

When we got to the 11-yard line, it was a similar situation for USC, who ended up with another 3rd-and-7. The result? A touchdown to Robinson, who beat Hunter Wohler 1-on-1. Miller Moss, sensing Wisconsin’s rushing attack, found the game-tying goal up the middle and scored the score that put the Trojans on top for the first time since the opening drive. It was questionable for Mike Tressel if he could call the all-out blitz without pressing at the line of scrimmage since there was pressure there, but there was too much wiggle room for the receivers on the play, which resulted in Moss his hot route chose the score.

As the third quarter neared its end, the Badgers found themselves trailing 24-21 and faced another rough offensive possession as Chez Mellusi was unable to find his footing on second down after gaining five yards on first down Result led to a decisive 3rd and 5th round? A swinging pass well in front of the post to Will Pauling, who was thrilled to catch the ball, leading to another three-pointer.

Feeling all the momentum, USC launched a 10-play, 77-yard drive early in the fourth quarter that took 6:29 of game time to score a touchdown, giving them a commanding 31-21 lead heading into the second half Picture.

This game was full of explosive plays as USC had consecutive passes of 13, 10, 21 and 14 yards that took them to the Wisconsin 20 yard line. The Badgers had a chance on the drive, putting the Trojans on third-and-2 and forcing a fourth down.

But when quarterback Miller Moss ran out of shotgun, he had a keeper and forced a missed tackle from Hunter Wohler before making his way to the end zone for a seven-yard rushing touchdown to give USC a two-point lead create what was a deafening moment for the Badgers.

It seemed like Wisconsin had some life left and was looking to fight with 8:42 to play when Tawee Walker used the first play of the drive for a 12-yard rush. But the Badgers’ offense quickly faltered after that, as two incomplete passes intended for Will Pauling led to the team’s third punt of the half.

The punt choice was interesting as Wisconsin had a 4th & 6 at its 41 yard line just over seven minutes in and was trying to trust its defense despite the success the Trojans were having on offense.

Now the next drive ended up being a three-out win for USC, but that didn’t matter as Braedyn Locke had a pick-six to Mason Cobb and Trech Kekahuna was looking on an out route. For the second time, the quarterback and wide receiver were not on the same page as Kekahuna did not look for the ball in time and the pass was deflected from him into the hands of a defender for the pick-six, making it a pick-six Score 38-21.

To end the game on a high note, Vinny Anthony made a great 74-yard kick return that gave the Badgers some excitement as they began the drive at the USC 18-yard line. But the offense continued to struggle in the second half as Wisconsin took two penalties, leading them to a 4th-and-10 where Braedyn Locke threw a pass well behind the sticks, resulting in a turnover on downs.

USC ultimately won that battle 38-21, resulting in their first win in Big Ten play, while the Badgers fell to 2-2 on the season with a tough loss.

Stay tuned for the rest of our coverage of Saturday’s game, coming soon!