LOS ANGELES — From the opening drive, Southern California’s offense looked in complete control.
The Trojans marched 75 yards down the field in nearly six minutes at the beginning of the first half, capping it off with a touchdown pass across the middle to wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane. Then to start the second half, USC relied on running back King Miller to burst off a 49-yard run on third-and-26 and punch it in the end zone two plays later.
The No. 15 Michigan football team’s defense simply couldn’t slow down USC’s offense, whether it was through the air or on the ground.
The Trojans set the tone from their opening drive of each half, and — using their well-balanced, high-tempo offense — continued to bulldoze the Wolverines’ defense throughout the game. As Michigan (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) tried to inch its way closer, USC (5-1, 3-1) continued to work its way down the field on nearly every drive to take down the Wolverines, 31-13.
On the opening drive of the game, the USC offense kept Michigan off guard by pushing the tempo after big gains, subsequently setting the Trojans up for short late-down distance. On nearly every drive that followed, USC found ways to make third down manageable.
The Wolverines found momentary success on the defensive end, forcing two first-half fumbles, one recovered by Michigan and the other setting up a third-and-17. But the Trojans bookended the first half with efficient sustained drives that were capped off by touchdowns from their top receivers — Lane and Makai Lemon.
“(We allowed) just too many opportunities, big plays, third-down conversions, scoring at the beginning of the game and half,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “So we just gotta do a better job rallying those things, but credit to them, credit to their game plan. No excuses.”
While Michigan capitalized on the failed conversion on third-and-17 with a touchdown of its own, it still trailed at the half. The first half ended in just a 14-7 point difference in favor of the Trojans, but USC dominated play on its offensive end — especially through the air with 181 pass yards compared to the Wolverines’ 79.
Again in the second half, USC was in control — this time on the ground.
Miller, who had 27 yards on the scoring drive at the end of the first half, hit a huge gap up the middle to set up the Trojans’ first touchdown of the half. A 47-yard run from Miller on the opening play of the ensuing drive alluded to an even more dominant half.
However, the Wolverines again came up with a takeaway in their own territory on an interception from senior defensive back Zeke Berry. But an interception on the other end from freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood kept Michigan out of reach.
“I feel like just as a whole, we just didn’t show up the way that we needed to show up,” freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh said. “We had a lot of mistakes throughout the game, but really just the preparation during the week, I feel like we had great preparation, just during the game we got to lock in and make sure that we continue to execute.”
A 54-yard field goal off the turnover at the beginning of the fourth quarter began to settle the dust. While there were inklings of a Michigan comeback after a 69-yard touchdown catch from Marsh brought the score to 24-13, USC did what it did all game long — marching down the field on a long drive and capping it off with a touchdown.
Using an over-five-minute fourth-quarter drive, running back Bryan Jackson punched in the game-sealing touchdown. The first half was controlled by the pass game, but the Trojans’ second-half run game outgained Michigan’s 164-42 and left no room for the Wolverines to comeback.
While the Trojans threw the ball all over the field in the first half, they ran all over the Wolverines in the second. USC’s well-balanced attack throughout the game kept Michigan’s defense off-balance — and as a result, the Wolverines never found their footing.
