MADISON, Wis. -- USC transfer Bryan Jackson scored a first-half touchdown against his former team to help Wisconsin surprise the No. 16 Trojans 24-7 on Saturday night.
Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) had its second victory of the season over a ranked opponent. The Badgers won 24-20 at then-No. 13 Penn State on Sept. 26.
Jackson spent the last two seasons at USC. He rushed 5 yards for a score to put Wisconsin in front 10-7 with less than two minutes left in the first half. The touchdown was the first for Jackson with the Badgers.
Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said that giving Jackson the chance to play against UCLA was a good decision. Jackson didn't play last week in Wisconsin's loss at UCLA.
"The situation is pretty special," Fickell said about the transfer's performance. "Sometimes you've just got to give guys greater opportunities when the game's on the line. He showed us something tonight that we thought maybe he had."
Chris Brooks Jr. caught a 16-yard TD pass from Colton Joseph on fourth-and-2 play to push Wisconsin's lead to 17-7 in the third.
Joseph was 12 of 14 for 58 yards passing. He also had 12 rushes for 32 yards. Abu Sama III was the Badgers' leading rusher with 16 carries for 71 yards.
Wisconsin's Junior Poyser blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter.
USC coach Lincoln Riley said that he was disappointed in the Trojans' effort.
"We flat out didn't play good enough on any of the three sides of the ball," Riley said. "We didn't coach good enough and we made critical errors on the road against a good team that you can't make. There were some moments of good, but we couldn't sustain it and grab momentum."
Jayden Maiava threw two interceptions in the first half for the Trojans (5-2, 2-2). He came into the game with three interceptions on 224 throws this season. Maiava completed 21 of 37 passes for 190 yards and a TD.
