Matchup Breakdown: The return of Alex Grinch and scouting Wisconsin

The success of new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn has helped put former DC Alex Grinch's struggles in the rearview, but Grinch returns to the Coliseum on Saturday as the safeties coach and co/DC of Wisconsin.

USC coach Lincoln Riley talked this week about what it will be like for him seeing the coordinator he fired last November now game-planning against him from the other side.

"Personally, it’ll be good to see him. It’ll certainly be unique being on opposite sidelines, with all the good times and great memories we had together, all the years working together," Riley said. "I’ve been a part of this before, where you have guys on previous staffs. I’ve even coached against my brother before.

"Yeah, we’ll see how the game unfolds. Coach Grinch has a good familiarity with what we’ve done, but I still think the game comes down to players and who executes the best on Saturday afternoon. I think we’ve prepared hard, but we know it’ll be a good challenge going against defense that he’s obviously a part of. "

Defensive end Jamil Muhammad also chimed in on facing off against the coordinator who helped bring him to USC.

"It's going to be cool. I mean, Coach Grinch obviously gave me a chance coming here last year. ... Coach Grinch is a wonderful coach and he's an even better man. He was always fun to be around. ... It's going to be cool seeing him again and having a friendly backyard battle."

Of course, Grinch spent three seasons with Riley at Oklahoma before following him to USC, where his defenses struggled seemingly more and more as the games piled up, leading to Riley making the decision to let him go with two games left in the 2023 regular season.

USC went from finishing 119th in total defense (432.8 yards per game) and 121st in scoring defense (34.4 points per game) last season to so far through three games under Lynn ranking 47th in total defense (311 YPG) and tied for 29th in scoring defense (15.7 PPG).

It's not just Grinch returning to the Coliseum, though.

Sophomore linebacker Tackett Curtis and junior wide receiver CJ Williams also spent one season each at USC before transferring to Wisconsin.

So far this year, Curtis has played 46 defensive snaps through three games with 10 tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss, while Williams has played 91 offensive snaps with 2 catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.

"Tackett, CJ, yeah, in this age of college football – had one of my former players at Utah State – you kind of get used to that now," Riley said. "I’m happy for those guys that are getting an opportunity at other schools, including Tackett and CJ at Wisconsin. Two great kids. I wish them the best. I wish them a lot of success, other than on Saturday. No ill will, no bad blood with any of them, man. Want them to go and do well. They’re great kids, they’ve got great families. And yeah, I wish them the best. I’ll always be keeping up with them."

Meanwhile, let's take a look at the matchup with Wisconsin (2-1) and what the No. 13-ranked Trojans (2-1, 0-1) are up against in their Big Ten home opener.

RELATED: Opposing Perpsective: BadgerBlitz.com's Seamus Rohrer breaks down the other side of the matchup with insight on Wisconsin

Who | Wisconsin (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at No. 13 USC (2-1, 0-1)

Where | LA Memorial Coliseum

When | 12:30 p.m. PT

TV | CBS with Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jenny Dell

Radio | ESPN LA 710 AM starting at 10:30 a.m. with Pete Arbogast, Shaun Cody, Cody Kessler, Su’a Cravens, Jordan Moore and Jason Schwartz (includes 2-hour post-game show).

Betting line | USC -14.5, over/under 50.5

Series history | USC and Michigan have only played 7 times (USC is 6-1). This will be the teams’ first meeting since the 2015 Holiday Bowl (a 23-21 Wisconsin win) and the Badgers' first visit to the Coliseum since 1966 (a 38-3 USC victory). ... The game is officially a sellout.

In their second season under former Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, the 2-1 Badgers still seem to be in the midst of a search for their identity.

In Fickell’s 2023 debut year, the Badgers went 7-6, culminating in a dramatic 35-31 loss against LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl. This season hasn’t been particularly kind to this squad so far, as Wisconsin took a lopsided 42-10 home loss to Alabama in Week 3, during which starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was lost for the season to injury.

Though the Badgers won the prior two games against Western Michigan (28-14) and South Dakota (27-13), neither victory was particularly impressive. Coming off of a bye week, the Badgers will be looking to right the ship on the road against USC in their first Big Ten matchup of the season.

The bye may have come at the best possible time for this team, not only giving it an extra week to prepare for USC but also giving redshirt sophomore quarterback Braedyn Locke more time to settle in as the starter in this offense.

Last year, Wisconsin went 5-4 in conference play with no wins against ranked teams. A road win against No. 13 USC to open conference play this season would no doubt do wonders for the trajectory of Fickell’s squad going forward.

With talented transfer QB Tyler Van Dyke tearing his ACL against Alabama, it falls to redshirt sophomore Braedyn Locke to take charge under center for Wisconsin. Locke was forced to take over as a spot starter in 2023, playing in five games and completing exactly half of his 152 passing attempts for 777 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. He finished the Alabama game 13-of-26 passing for 125 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs.

Though he doesn’t offer much in the way of mobility, he’s got a live arm and is able to put real velocity on the ball and drive it down the field. Despite that, his accuracy has proven to be rather inconsistent, evidenced by his low completion percentage.

Thankfully for Locke, he gets to play behind a strong Wisconsin offensive line that handles itself well both in the run game and pass protection. Even in their lopsided loss against Alabama, the Badgers gave up just 2 sacks and managed to run for 149 yards, with their lead duo of backs combining for 105 yards on 19 carries. Veteran Chez Mellusi and redshirt sophomore Cade Yacamelli have both shown themselves to be very capable performers out of the backfield. Though the sixth-year senior Mellusi has seen the field more often (46 carries for 200 yards and 3 TDs), the younger Yacamelli appears to be the more explosive of the two backs, averaging 7.3 yards per carry on his 20 touches so far this season.

The Badgers don’t have a particularly deep or well-rounded group of pass-catchers, but redshirt junior receiver Will Pauling is a real threat from the slot or outside. Pauling has been this team’s No. 1 receiver since last season, when he led the squad with 74 receptions for 837 yards and 6 scores. He’s maintained that form into this year, putting up a strong showing against Alabama’s talented secondary while catching 9 balls for 83 yards and a touchdown. He has 19 receptions for 191 yards overall.

Though the Badgers performed well enough on defense through their two easier matchups to start the year, Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama squad managed to cut through them with relative ease. En route to scoring 42 points, the Crimson Tide managed to put up 226 yards through the air and added another 181 on the ground.

Wisconsin’s defensive line is a solid unit, but it was no match for the strong offensive line fielded by Alabama, which managed to routinely blow the Badgers off the ball in the run game and keep pressure away from the quarterback. Wisconsin plays an aggressive game on the defensive front, keeping its linebackers involved as blitzers and using twists and stunts along the line. Outside linebackers Aaron Witt and Christian Alliegro provide stout presences on the edges, while inside linebackers Tackett Curtis and Leon Lowery give Wisconsin sideline-to-sideline athleticism from the middle of the field.

Wisconsin’s greatest shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball seem to reside in the secondary, where Alabama QB Jalen Milroe and his receivers were consistently able to carve out chunk gains along the sidelines and down the field. The Badgers' cornerback play so far seems to be a real problem, leaving them vulnerable to a tough matchup against USC’s loaded receiving corps.

With that said, Wisconsin features one of the nation’s best safeties in senior Hunter Wohler, who last season earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team through his stellar performance. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound Wohler is a difference-maker at every level of the field, having compiled 120 total tackles, 6 TFLs, a sack, 2 interceptions and 6 passes defensed in his 2023 campaign. Though he had a quiet game against Alabama two weeks ago, he’s still the Badgers’ leader in tackles (17) and passes defensed (2) through three games.

Junior kicker Nick Vakos has been reliable for Wisconsin in his three seasons, having gone 42 of 53 on field goals over the course of his career. This season, he’s gone 5 of 7, nailing both of his attempts from beyond 50 yards. The junior has one of the bigger legs in college football; his career-long field goal came all the way from 56 yards out. Vakos has only missed one of 90 extra points attempted, all the way back in his freshman year. It’s worth noting that he missed one of his two field goal tries against Alabama, an attempt from 44 yards out.

Former USC commit and Aussie Atticus Bertrams now punts for the Badgers, and he’s gotten off to a strong start to the season. Now in his second year at Wisconsin, Bertrams has averaged a healthy 43.4 yards-per-punt average on his 10 attempts so far, landing a long of 59.

The Badgers return kicks and punts with the duo of Trech Kekahuna and Vinny Anthony, neither of whom has gotten much going so far this season. Anthony is averaging just 1.5 yards on the two punts Wisconsin has returned this season (he averaged 9.4 last season, to be fair), while the duo has combined for just 204 yards on their 10 combined kick returns. Both returners managed to rip off a few solid runbacks last season, though neither has logged a career return touchdown.