Fresh off a deflating loss at the hands of now-No. 9 UCLA, Luke Fickell’s task turns quickly to the No. 16 USC Trojans. This time at least, his Badgers will be playing at home.

All things considered, if Wisconsin can’t grab one of the next two against USC and Iowa, it would be staring down a manageable home stretch at 4-4. If it drops the next two but wins the last four, an 8-4 finish is respectable. If, however, the Badgers not only lose the next two, but also lose at least one of the final four games, there’s not much to stand on arguing the program is in a much better spot than a year ago.

With that in mind, here are the storylines that intrigue me most about Saturday’s date with the Trojans.

Colton Joseph

This doesn’t need much of an introduction. For Wisconsin to have a chance in either of its next two games, Joseph has to not only be better, but more importantly, needs to not be one-dimensional.

Against UCLA, he rushed for 71 yards, on 3.9 yards-per-carry, which isn’t bad for a quarterback. The issue was that he completed just six of his passing 16 attempts, totaling just 66 yards through the air. There’s not much to say other than those numbers aren’t going to win games against quality opponents.

With USC coming to town, led by Jayden Maiava who is second in the country in passing yards, Wisconsin is going to have to score points, and probably a lot of them, to have any chance to win.

We’ve seen big-play ability from Joseph through the air this season, albeit against lesser competition, but he’s going to have to offer a real threat through the air and force Lincoln Riley and his staff to at the very least respect the Badgers’ passing attack. It doesn’t have to be a 300-yard game, but he can’t be inaccurate on early-down throws and force the offense to attempt long third-down conversions.

On Saturday, it didn’t feel like Jeff Grimes and Fickell trusted Joseph to do damage through the air. While his legs will still need to be a weapon against the Trojans, playing as conservatively as Wisconsin did through the air, against a high-octane USC offense, it will be extremely difficult to keep pace. 

This may be a game where Grimes and Fickell have to live and die by their quarterback. Turnovers have been an issue for Joseph this year, but I think if you play to avoid the turnover rather than to score points, the Trojans can make this ugly.

Bounce-back effort from the secondary

Mike Tressel’s defense put the clamps on one of the best run games in the country last Saturday. Wayne Knight, UCLA’s star running back was limited to 23 yards on 13 carries. Looking at his numbers alone, you would think Wisconsin dominated.

It was Ty Dieffenbach, the Bruins’ backup quarterback, who picked the defense apart, leading multiple scoring drives with a long field. The defense did enough to keep the game close, but its effort against the pass left plenty to be desired.

As I alluded to earlier, if the secondary finds itself out of position or allows receivers to find weak spots in its zone coverage, Maiava is going to take advantage as Dieffenbach did. The difference with Maiava is that him making you pay could be 300-plus yards and multiple scores, compared to the 264 yards from Dieffenbach. 

USC is going to score points, this likely isn’t a game the Badgers can turn into a slugfest. Wisconsin doesn’t need to shut the Trojans out to have a chance, but an effort against the pass like Tressel’s crew had last weekend would likely mean an ugly final result.

World Series overlap

Obviously, Wisconsin doesn’t choose the start time for this game, and if it did, it’s impossible to imagine a scenario where it would’ve picked to play at the same time as the Brewers. With that being the case, however, I’m curious to see not only how many fans show up versus opting to stay home and watch the World Series, but also how the team is received.

A few weeks ago, the Badgers were staring down a stretch of three games that many fans said would define their season. That is absolutely still the case, but Fickell’s team did not get off to a good start. I’m inclined to believe that a win over USC or Iowa and a 1-2 mark in that stretch would be accepted by most fans, but as of today, I don’t think there are many people excited about the next two given last Saturday’s result.

I don’t think attendance will be poor, but I think Camp Randall will be full of fans who are a little bit feisty for a win that moves the goal posts in terms of showing the program turning a corner, and I doubt there’s a lot of confidence in this team winning at Kinnick Stadium.

This isn’t a must win game, but it’s by far the biggest home game on the schedule, so it’s crucial to have a good showing to make fans believe something is different this season.