The No. 16 USC Trojans fell to 6-2 after a rough outing against the Wisconsin Badgers. Probably the most unexpected poor performance in the 24-7 loss came from quarterback Jayden Maiava and the offense. 

Maiava finished the game completing 31-of-50 pass attempts (62 percent) for 258 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Maiava also had five unsuccessful rushes. On each attempt he was brought down behind the line of scrimmage. Combined with the five sacks, the senior signal caller had negative 17 rushing yards.

Other stains on the loss is that it was Maiava’s 10th career game with multiple turnovers, the longest completion was 16 yards and it was also the least amount of points scored by a Lincoln Riley-led team.

“I think it was a lot of self-inflicting wounds. It's just stuff we got to get better at,” Maiava said during the post-game press conference. “And me, flat out, didn’t play great individually but I just got to deliver better for my teammates.”

First Half Blunder

In the first half of action, the offense was only able to muster 97 total yards of offense. A lot of the problems stemmed from the no-huddle, up-tempo approach Riley ran in the first two series of the game. The running game was never established, and Maiava didn’t have a chance to settle into a rhythm.

The first two drives ended in a three-and-outs while the third was capped off with an interception. Although Wisconsin brought four rushers, Maiava felt the heat and heaved one up for Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. Javon Robinson got the pass breakup while Bryce West got the pick.

Later in the quarter, Maiava and the Trojans offense was facing third-and-four at Wisconsin’s 42-yard line. The Badgers’ defensive line stirred up more pressure, causing Maiava to dance around in the pocket. Maiava ended up forcing a pass down the middle of the field, which was picked off by safety Cairo Skanes.

At the start of the second quarter, it appeared that Maiava was starting to piece it together. On the 16-play, 65-yard drive, he completed five-of-eight passes for 47 yards and a score. 

Wisconsin went on to take a 10-7 lead with a little less than two minutes remaining at the half. What seemed as enough time to get points on the board was wiped away when Ethan Feaster muffed the kick return, setting Maiava and the offense at USC’s seven-yard line. An 11-yard sack ultimately wrapped up the half.

Wisconsin's Pass Rush

Ultimately, Wisconsin’s pass rush was as advertised. Led by the linebackers, Cooper Catalano had 10 total tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit while Mason Posa had five tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Star backer Sebastian Cheeks made Maiava’s night miserable with five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

In total, the Badgers’ defense had nine tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, two hurries and seven pass breakups.

From stunts, blitzes or straight up rushes, Maiava was clearly rattled and contributed two penalties to USC’s six. Both were intentional groundings in an attempt to avoid sacks.