This article was updated with quotes on Oct. 24, 2026 at 9:40 p.m.
No. 16 USC suffered its second loss of the season Saturday at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, falling 24-7 in a Big Ten matchup. The game marked the fewest scoring points in head coach Lincoln Riley’s head-coaching career.
“We had some big penalties at times that obviously you know hindered us on all sides of the ball,” Riley said. “So just not good enough. I take responsibility for it.”
Wisconsin held USC to zero points in the first quarter and only allowed one touchdown in the second. At halftime, the longest running play made by the Trojans was seven yards while the longest pass was only 15 yards.
The only touchdown of the night was by redshirt freshman tight end Taniela Tupou. His 4-yard touchdown catch doubled for his first career touchdown and the first and only Trojan lead of the game.
Penalties and offensive mistakes were the Trojans’ worst enemies throughout Saturday night’s matchup.
Wisconsin junior cornerback Bryce West picked off redshirt senior quarterback Jayden Maiava resulting in a Badger field goal to take the lead early in the first quarter. Five minutes later, another Maiava pass was intercepted for the second time by Badgers sophomore safety Cairo Skanes for a 27-yard return. Unlike the first one, this drive was unsuccessful, ending with a missed field goal.
“I think it was a lot of self-inflicting wounds,” Maiava said. “It’s just stuff that we got to get better.”
After an unnecessary roughness penalty on junior linebacker Desman Stephens, Wisconsin easily moved towards the end zone to start the second half. The penalty worked out in their favor with a 14-yard touchdown pass to fifth-year wide receiver Chris Brooks Jr. to extend the lead to 17-7.
“We just looked at ‘What is the next play and what can we do to perform better going forward,” Brooks Jr said. “And I think that’s something that this entire team embodies. It’s just really cool to see just a great collective of guys come together and fight, quite honestly.”
When it started to look hopeful for the Trojans, Wisconsin continued to spoil the successful drives. USC’s offensive line allowed Maiava to be sacked five times. And, with just over four minutes left in the third quarter, Wisconsin sophomore linebacker Cooper Catalano was seen mimicking the same playcall signal as Maiava, reading the fake blitz and causing Maiava to be fouled with intentional grounding. Maiava was called for intentional grounding twice during the game, both in the second half.
Redshirt sophomore kicker Caden Chittenden missed two field goals in the second half turning what could’ve been a four-point deficit into a 10-point game.
Defensive coordinator Gary Patterson’s defense made necessary plays in the third quarter to stop the Badgers from extending their lead, but it could not rescue them as it had against Washington and Penn State. Stephens and freshman defensive end Luke Wafle combined for 14 total tackles, with Wafle adding one sack.
On the other side, Wisconsin kept the pressure on USC’s backfield, with at least three Badgers recording a sack, led by fifth-year outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks with 2.5 and sophomore linebacker Mason Posa with 1.5.
“It’s just us playing to our standard,” Cheeks said. “We can be one of the best defenses in the nation. I thought tonight we were able to play to our standard and that helped with our success.”
USC had plenty of opportunities to get one more touchdown on the board in the last minute of the game. With 48 seconds left in the game, Maiava threw three straight incompletions, leading to a turnover on downs.
“You got to not give up 19 pass interferences. You got to not have penalties. You got to not have bad calls by us. You got to make field goals,” Riley said. “I’m just disappointed.”
As the clock hit zero, thousands of Wisconsin fans stormed the field to celebrate the takedown of the Trojans and the Badgers’ sixth consecutive win at home.
“I’m just so happy and so proud for these guys, for the whole team, for the whole fan base, for everybody,” Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said. “This was a night we needed.”
Wisconsin improves to a 5-2 record overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play. USC falls to 6-2 overall and sits at 3-2 in conference play.
Six Trojans were ruled out entering the game, leaving USC without several key playmakers. Freshman tight end Mark Bowman was sidelined for the third straight game with an undisclosed injury. Bowman averages 9.7 yards a reception, and who could have been the missing piece to the conference matchup.
The penalties and offensive errors did more than stall drives. They cost necessary points and erased opportunities to close the gap, allowing Wisconsin to turn every Trojan mistake into greater control of the game. From penalties resulting in automatic first downs to consecutive incompletions, USC worked against themselves and kept the comeback far out of reach.
A win would have been the third straight victory, but the loss instead exposed the flaws the Trojans must fix before facing No. 3 Ohio State on Halloween at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Edited by Sammie Vassallo and Adriana Brady