USC knew Michigan would run the ball over and over again, but when it mattered most, the Trojans still couldn’t stop it.
After a dismal offensive performance in the first half left USC in an 11-point hole, redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss managed to establish some momentum in the second half, nearly leading the Trojans to a comeback. But Michigan’s senior running back Kalel Mullings scored Michigan’s only offensive touchdown of the half to give the Wolverines a 27-24 lead with just 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
USC’s defense held firm for almost the entire second half, forcing multiple three-and-outs and a fumble, but ultimately Michigan’s run game won the battle both teams knew was coming.
Michigan entered the game with a new starting quarterback, junior Alex Orji, who the Wolverines had previously used as a runner from time to time, but was unproven as a passer. Despite Michigan’s expected reliance on the run game, the Wolverines still had their way in the first half. Using a combination of Orji, Mullings and senior running back Donovan Edwards, Michigan averaged 7.4 yards per carry in the first two quarters and scored on a pair of breakaways for Mullings and Edwards, of 53 and 41 yards, respectively.
The Trojans’ offense struggled mightily in the first half, having not earned a first down until the team’s fifth drive of the game, when Moss found sophomore receiver Zachariah Branch for a 24-yard gain. Michigan found it easy to pressure Moss, and eventually finished the game with four sacks and 10 quarterback hurries.
Even when USC first visited Michigan territory, the Trojans had to settle for a field goal after a pair of incompletions and a tackle for a loss on redshirt junior Lake McRee. McRee would later exit the game with an injury accrued from a tackle on a similar short-yards catch.
In the second half, though, the Trojans seemed determined to write a different story. The offense found momentum and the run game, which accounted for just five yards in the first half, started finding gaps for redshirt senior Woody Marks to run into. He ultimately finished with 100 rushing yards and 140 all-purpose. On the first drive of the third quarter, USC went 75 yards on 12 plays—the most the offense had strung together to that point—for a touchdown from sophomore wide receiver Duce Robinson.
However, after the Trojans forced the Wolverines into a three-and-out, Moss threw the first interception of his career to Michigan’s All-American junior cornerback Will Johnson, which Johnson took to the house to dampen USC’s burgeoning confidence.
The Trojans’ next drive, a solid six-play, 66-yard march, was interrupted by a wild series of events in which Moss fumbled and Michigan junior defensive lineman Kenneth Grant recovered the ball, only for Marks to hustle back and strip the ball out of Grant’s grasp, keeping USC in scoring range. The Trojans ultimately took advantage, with Moss throwing to a wide-open Jay Fair for USC’s second touchdown.
Michigan punted on the following drive and it seemed like USC had the necessary momentum to win.
It nearly worked out that way. The two teams went back-and-forth with a few punts, until the Wolverines fumbled mid-way through the fourth, handing USC the ball back at Michigan’s 18 yard line. And on third and 16, Moss flicked the football up to sophomore receiver Ja’Kobi Lane in the end zone, giving the Trojans their first lead of the game with about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
To that point, Michigan’s offense had not earned a single first down in the second half and had gained just nine yards of total offense. Had the Wolverines continued at that pace, they would’ve totaled about 17 yards of offense in the third and fourth quarters. For context, when USC’s offense was sputtering at their worst in the half, they still managed 125 total yards. The Trojans appeared firmly in control.
That feeling lasted for about four minutes and 30 seconds of clock time, until Mullings broke free once again for 63 yards, putting Michigan in scoring position. Once inside of USC’s 20-yard line, Michigan ran down the clock with its sturdy run game, with Mullings scoring on a one-yard run on fourth and goal.
2023-level tackling reappeared for USC's defense at the wrong moment. Mullings breaks free for a 63-yard gain, by far Michigan's biggest of the half, to set the Wolverines up at USC's 17 as the 2-minute warning strikes.
— Annenberg Media Sports (@ANNMediaSports) September 21, 2024
USC had just 37 seconds to work with on the team’s final drive and a pair of completions to Lane were insufficient for the Trojans to make their way into field goal range. Between Johnson’s pick six and three Michigan carries for over 40 yards each, it felt like USC’s fortune was determined on just a few plays. Head coach Lincoln Riley said similarly in his postgame press conference.
“We probably won 80, 85 percent of the defensive snaps,” Riley said. “But we lost some of them big, and [those] are the mistakes that you can’t make and those are things we’ll have to clean up.”
When asked to reflect on USC’s drive before Michigan scored its final touchdown, which ended after three snaps for a total loss of three yards, Riley took the blame for USC’s failure to hold onto the ball for longer.
“I thought I could’ve been better,” Riley said. “I didn’t think I called a very good drive there.”
The Trojans will have an opportunity to arrest their big-play fragility next week when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers at the Coliseum on Saturday, September 28.