Handing out game balls for USC's impressive win over Wisconsin

The USC Trojans made quite the impression in their first home Big Ten game...at least in the second half. Outscoring Wisconsin 28-0 in after halftime on their way to a 38-21 win, the Trojans found a way to erase a poor first half and show that they are capable of playing a style of football that is conducive for success in the Big Ten.

“It’s the second week in a row we’ve started slow offensively," QB Miller Moss said, "which, you know, is unacceptable going forward, and we’re going to play teams where that’s really going to hurt us, and they did the week before. So we have to get that addressed. And I think it’s kind of what we said before – we just made mistakes and turned the ball over. I felt like we were moving the ball really well. At halftime, we said we like everything we have. It’s just about us going and executing. And I think the good thing about that is we had autonomy and going out in the second half and controlling what we control, and going and putting up points. It wasn’t like they were doing something that was world-beating, and we couldn’t execute. I think we just knew we had to play our brand of football and we’d
be fine.”

The Trojans' dominance in the second half wasn't confined to just one side of the football. Rather both the defense and the offense turned up the heat.

On defense, USC allowed only 65 total yards in the final two quarters. That came on the heels of giving up 221 yards to a pedestrian Badger offense in the first half.

Meanwhile, the USC offense came to life after two turnovers in the first half. Putting up four touchdowns after the intermission, the Trojans have now outscored their opponents this year 87-23 in the third and fourth quarters.

So let's look at the players that helped turn the tide and lead the Trojans to their first-ever Big Ten victory. Here are three players who deserve game balls for their work against the Badgers.

Ja'Kobi Lane staked his claim as USC's top receiver

This season, USC hasn't found a go-to wide receiver that the offense can lean on when it needs a play to be made. After the Wisconsin game, it is hard to imagine that anyone but Ja'Kobi Lane fits that bill for the moment.

Against Wisconsin, Lane was a star. He made 10 catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, he was USC's leading receiver for the game.

Now, Lane leads the team with 19 catches, 221 yards, and four touchdowns. Though he's just one of five players with at least 15 catches on the season, he's likely going to be the go-to option for Moss.

This was Lane's first 100-yard game as a collegiate and he certainly has a ways to go before he's a true top-flight receiver, he has all the tools to be the guy USC leans on the most heavily. At 6-foot-4, he's a matchup problem for most defensive backs and he's shown the ability to make difficult grabs as he did against Wisconsin, once when he was sandwiched by two defenders causing his helmet to pop off and another time when he drug both toes while making a catch along the sidelines on a crucial third down to keep an eventual scoring drive alive.

Those are the signs of a go-to receiver, which USC will need him to be. It is the first indication that he's coming into his own as a top-rate receiver, therefore, Lane gets an imaginary game ball.

Miller Moss showed that he is the heart and soul of the USC football team

For the second week in a row, USC quarterback Miller Moss was beaten and battered by an opposing defensive line. However, the beatings he has taken have not caused him to wither. Rather, it seems like the punishment he takes makes him more resilient each week.

In this game, Moss seemed to will his team to a win. He was able to withstand some serious pressure to throw for 308 yards on 30 of 45 passing with three toucdown passes.

However, it was his rushing touchdown that best symbolized his importance to the team. With USC leading 24-21 with just over eight minutes to play, Moss executed a fourth-down touchdown run from seven yards out on which he spun away from one defender and then got into the endzone using a spinning jump.

On the play, Moss landed on the back of he head and he was examined for a potential concussion. Fortunately, he was ok and would finish the game.

That play showed that Moss is not only willing to risk his well-being to pick up a win but it also proved that he is capable of making a critical play with his feet, which is not his specialty.

Plays like that are what make a leader and against Wisconsin, that's what Moss proved he is. That's why he gets one of our fake game balls.

Kamari Ramsey was the spearhead of USC's defensive turnaround

There wasn't one USC defender who stood out statistically on Saturday. After all, no Trojan defender has more than four tackles on the day. (That was partly due to the fact that USC dominated the time of possession and limited the number of plays the Badgers ran.)

However, there is no doubt that sophomore safety Kamari Ramsey was the catalyst for USC's defensive turnaround. In fact, he's been one of the main reasons that the Trojan defense has been improved all season long.

The UCLA transfer played for current USC defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn last year with the Bruins when he was one of the best freshmen defensive backs in America. This year, he's becoming a star for the Trojans.

Against Wisconsin, he made two memorable plays. The first was a fourth-and-one stop behind the line when USC trailed 21-17. That play took place at the USC 33 so it stopped what was Wisconsin's only scoring threat of the second half.

Later, with USC leading 24-21, Ramsey blew up a Wisconsin swing pass on third and five. The thundering hit he delivered electrified the Coliseum crowd and set the tone for the defense to finish out the game.

Through four games, Ramsey is third on the USC defense with 19 tackles. He also has three tackles for loss, a sack, a pass defense, and a forced fumble. That's the type of impact that USC envisioned when he joined the program after a stellar freshman season across town. And because he was the leader of the USC defensive turnaround on Saturday, he gets one of our prestigious game balls.