MADISON — No. 16 USC stumbled out of its bye week and couldn’t recover from its lowest-scoring first half of the season, falling to Wisconsin 24-7 on Saturday night.

It was the Trojans’ first loss to an unranked opponent since losing to TCU in the Alamo Bowl at the end of the 2025 season, and USC’s two losses put them at serious risk of missing the College Football Playoff.

USC was riding a wave of confidence after beating Penn State two weeks ago in the White Out game and the following bye week allowed for two weeks of preparation for Wisconsin, but all three sides of the ball fell apart in front of a Camp Randall Stadium crowd that was itching to storm the field.

“This is the same team that played a way different brand of football at Penn State two weeks ago,” head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters. “And we’re very capable of doing that again here in the coming weeks, but we got to do it, and it’s going to take all of us together. Coaches and players, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Quarterback Jayden Maiava was sacked five times and threw two interceptions while completing 31 of 50 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown.

Wisconsin (5-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) cracked down on USC’s rushing attack and only allowed the Trojans to gain 10 yards on the ground in the first half and minus-17 in the entire game.

USC (6-2, 3-2) used an array of runners, with King Miller, Shahn Alston and Deshonne Redeaux each getting touches. Alston led all of them with 28 yards on seven attempts.

Badgers outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks stopped Miller in his tracks on the Trojans’ first run play of the game, an early indicator that there could be trouble.

The offense was uncharacteristically inefficient in situations when it mattered the most. USC was 1 for 3 in the red zone, 7 for 15 on third down and 1 for 3 on fourth down.

“The biggest thing was the scoring zone,” Riley said. “Once we moved across the 50, we just weren’t very good.”

The pass game struggled, too. Jayden Maiava had his first multi-interception game of the season, committing his fourth and fifth turnovers in the first half.

Maiava was aiming for leading receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, who was in double coverage, on the first interception. Cornerback Bryce West returned the interception 23 yards and set Wisconsin up for an eventual 33-yard field goal that gave the Badgers an early 3-0 lead.

USC was making progress on its next drive and reached Wisconsin’s 42-yard line when Maiava was faced with a collapsing pocket and pressure from linebacker Cooper Catalano. He released the ball in the direction of tight end Tucker Ashcraft and instead sent a direct strike to safety Cairo Skanes.

Maiava fell to the ground, face down, in frustration before being helped up by offensive lineman Justin Tauanuu.

The senior quarterback began to make up for lost ground with a quick read progression and a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Taniela Tupou in the back of the end zone for the freshman’s first career touchdown reception.

Wisconsin added a 5-yard touchdown run by Bryan Jackson, who formerly played for USC before transferring prior to this season. The Badgers had a 10-7 advantage going into halftime and quickly built on that lead when they came out of the locker room.

They loaded up four potential receivers on the left side, and the Trojans’ defense did not adjust. Quarterback Colton Joseph lobbed a quick pass to receiver Chris Brooks Jr., who scampered straight into the end zone to bring the score to 17-7 at the 9:21 mark of the third frame.

USC had the opportunity to make it a one-score game with a 44-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter, but defensive lineman Junior Poiser’s fingertips grazed the ball and sent the attempt wide right of the goalpost.

Rain began to fall as the Trojans missed on their second field goal attempt of the game, this one from 58 yards out.

“He hit from that in pregame,” Riley said. “We knew points were at a premium at that point and and just felt like — obviously, a 58-yarder never going to be crazy high percentages — but we needed points, and to punt it down there, that just didn’t feel like it was the right choice at that time.”

And the Badgers — energized by Camp Randall Stadium’s “Jump Around” ritual kept pounding away through the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin added an insurance touchdown on a 1-yard run by tight end Ryan Schwendeman with five minutes left on the clock.