Often lost in the craziness of all the bowl games and national title talks is just how interesting the matchups can be. Historical powerhouses that rarely see each other get a chance to face off, and the Holiday Bowl between Wisconsin (6-2 Big Ten, 9-3 overall) and USC (5-4 Pac-12, 8-5 overall) is a prime showcase.
Over the past decade or so, the teams are both near the top in the country in wins, have produced Heisman winners and have earned multiple Rose Bowl trips, yet the two programs haven’t faced one another since 1966. All the players were quick to say how excited they were about the matchup.
“It’s cool whenever we get to play a team like that,” redshirt sophomore defensive end Chikwe Obasih said. “Alabama and LSU in recent years, it gets the guys excited, it helps with recruiting, it helps with morale of the team, see how we measure up to the high-profile offenses and teams around the country instead of our regular Big Ten foes.”
The energy emanating from facing a new team may stave off the hangover that can sometimes come with multiple weeks off, which head coach Paul Chryst says is always a worry.
“There’s always as a concern when you don’t play for a while. Heck, we as coaches get nervous after a bye, and that’s one week,” Chryst said. “But I do think they’ve taken advantage of the schedule we’ve tried to do with them, and they haven’t been inactive. Sometimes a change in routine is good for them.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the injuries that have been plaguing the team all year seem to be finally coming to an end. Redshirt senior tight end Austin Traylor played well in his first two games back, junior running back Corey Clement is looking to play more than he has and junior wide receiver Rob Wheelwright is back on the practice field, according to Chryst.
If the offensive line looks as polished as it did against Minnesota, the best game it played all season, coupled with the health of some of the core skill players, the offense should be able to work wonders against what is a mediocre Trojan defense.
However, the real spectacle will be on the other side, where the highly touted Badger defense will face off against quarterback Cody Kessler and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster; USC’s lethal combination formed one of the best offenses in the Pac-12.
Smith-Schuster is third in the nation in receiving yards and is in the top 15 in receptions and receiving touchdowns. The talented receiver consistently beats defensive backs on the deep ball, but senior cornerback Darius Hillary has a different plan to stop his production.
“I see a lot of DBs playing off on him, we just want to get up and challenge the receiver and do the best job we can,” Hillary said.
Another way to limit Smith-Schuster is to stifle his quarterback, Kessler. Obasih said doing that is the key to winning, and that certainly was the case against Minnesota, where the front seven’s pressure only resulted in one sack, but forced quarterback Mitch Leidner to throw three interceptions, as well as another pick that got called off due to a penalty.
Part of Wisconsin’s key to defensive dominance the last couple years has been due to the play calling of defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who isn’t afraid to shake things up, with his fabled “peso” formation being the most successful example. Whether he brings out something novel for the bowl game is still to be seen.
“The mad scientist has a couple tricks up his sleeves. Nothing too new so far, but he still has things that we’ve done in camp and spring ball that we haven’t exactly pulled out yet,” Obasih said.
The two programs may not be at the peaks of their recent success, but this year the two are evenly matched, which should result in an interesting game in their first matchup since ’66. The Holiday Bowl kicks off at 9:30 p.m. Dec. 30 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.
