{"id":3095,"date":"2025-10-10T03:49:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T03:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/what-to-watch-for-usc\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T03:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T03:49:08","slug":"what-to-watch-for-usc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/what-to-watch-for-usc\/","title":{"rendered":"What to watch for: USC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>It still doesn\u2019t feel normal, but the No. 15 Michigan football team will make its now-annual trip to the West Coast this week as a part of the regular Big Ten schedule. The Wolverines left Thursday and will finish the practice week at the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 facility tomorrow. Then, it\u2019s time for the third ever matchup between Michigan and Southern California.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not a do-or-die game for either team per se, but for the loser, every game hereafter becomes do or die. At 4-1, a playoff berth is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/sportsmonday-michigans-expectation-should-be-the-college-football-playoff\/\">realistic<\/a> for both the Wolverines and the Trojans if they can reach the 10-2 mark. This game is a midseason inflection point after which each team will know if it has room for error or its back against the wall moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Or, both teams can fall flat for the remainder of conference play and the game can lose its meaning in retrospect. But this isn\u2019t last year, even if the stakes rhyme.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a new year with new teams in a new time zone. In brief, there\u2019s plenty to watch for. Here\u2019s three themes to start:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong>Can Michigan\u2019s young defensive backs hold their own?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>USC coach Lincoln Riley has been calling offensive plays at this level for 15 years now. One thing hasn\u2019t changed: His teams can move the ball through the air. Through five games this season, the Trojans have thrown for an average of 338 yards per game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re talented everywhere on the field, especially on the offensive end,\u201d Michigan sophomore defensive back Mason Curtis said Tuesday. \u201cGot a good quarterback, good receivers, so they\u2019re just honing in on eyes, details, communication on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It starts with USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, who has been extremely efficient this season. He\u2019s completing over 70% of his passes and has thrown 11 touchdowns to only one interception.<\/p>\n<p>Out wide, Makai Lemon is dynamic. Lemon leads the team with 589 yards and has an argument to be the nation\u2019s top receiver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>He\u2019ll line up against Wolverines junior defensive back Jyaire Hill. At least, Michigan will do its best to keep it that way. Hill has stepped up as the Wolverines\u2019 top corner this season. He\u2019s improved upon many of his weaknesses, especially in man coverage against double moves. But he\u2019s no Will Johnson \u2014 who had a pick six against the Trojans last year \u2014 and will be easier for Riley to scheme against.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Lemon beats Hill consistently, USC will likely try to operate out of different formations and utilize pre-snap motions to get Lemon different matchups. Michigan has quite a few young defensive backs that haven\u2019t tried to defend a player of Lemon\u2019s caliber.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Freshmen Jayden Sanders, Shamari Earls and Elijah Dotson have all made their way onto the field for meaningful snaps. Although senior Zeke Berry and graduate Rod Moore\u2019s returns make a world of difference, the freshmen are still likely to take the field.<\/p>\n<p>With just a couple blown coverages, Lemon can make himself the game\u2019s decider. He\u2019s a threat unlike any the Wolverines have seen this season and one unlike anything Sanders, Earls and Dotson have ever lined up against. Michigan will need them to hold their own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can both teams continue to be turnover averse?<\/strong><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Wolverines Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, while not slinging it at the volume Maiava is, has also only thrown a single interception this year. And that was in garbage time against Central Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams boast great turnover margins overall with the Trojans at 5-9 and the Wolverines at 3-9. Winning the turnover battle will be critical come Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>In last year\u2019s game, Johnson\u2019s aforementioned 42-yard pick six put Michigan up 20-10 over USC in the third quarter, giving much needed support to an offense that threw for just 32 yards. But even regular turnovers will make a huge difference when each team is giving up so few this season.<\/p>\n<p>Based solely on the numbers, it\u2019s more likely a ball is poked free than snagged out of the air. The Wolverines have fumbled five times despite losing it just twice. USC has lost four fumbles, including one on the first drive of its last game. Ultimately a 34-32 loss for the Trojans, Illinois capitalized on the opening takeaway to take an early 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n<p>Interceptions aren\u2019t inconceivable, though. Michigan has a healthy secondary even if the young guys will still rotate in. Last week, Moore was welcomed back to Michigan Stadium with his first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/rod-moore-welcomed-back-to-michigan-stadium-with-interception-against-wisconsin\/\">interception<\/a> in two years. The guys around him are just as eager.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-4{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong>Can Justice Haynes do something similar to Kalel Mullings?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Down three with the game on the line, former Wolverines running back Kalel Mullings was dead to rights. Then he spun out of two tackles and broke off for 63 yards to put Michigan in the red zone, where he\u2019d score the game-winner a few plays later.<\/p>\n<p>This season, explosive runs like that have been commonplace for junior running back Justice Haynes. They\u2019re largely why his coaches and teammates think he belongs in the Heisman Trophy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/according-to-michigan-and-moore-justice-haynes-has-entered-the-heisman-conversation\/\">conversation<\/a>. But every great winner needs to have those kinds of moments in the biggest games.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t a ranked matchup, but Michigan is the underdog in a game against two national brands. It\u2019s the Wolverines\u2019 most important game until Ohio State comes to town. If Haynes has a game-winner like Mullings did, it will be a moment that sticks in peoples\u2019 heads. It will vault him into contention to win Heisman.<\/p>\n<p>USC\u2019s defense is stout at defending the run game, allowing just over 100 yards per game. That\u2019ll make another 100-yard performance all the more impressive. But both to win this game and to win individual awards at the season\u2019s end, Haynes will have to have memorable plays.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-5{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n<p>In Ann Arbor last year, Michigan won the ranked-matchup with USC. At the time, it appeared to set the Wolverines up to make a run and compete for a playoff spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The stakes are quite similar this year, but the stage moves to the LA Memorial Coliseum. Big Ten teams went just 6-22 when traveling to face the four former PAC-12 teams last season. Michigan was part of that 22, falling to Washington in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>Sooner or later, the Wolverines will have to feel comfortable traveling three time zones. It\u2019s the new normal, after all.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden  newspack-inline-popup      \" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_162162\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Please consider donating to The Michigan Daily<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It still doesn\u2019t feel normal, but the No. 15 Michigan football team will make its now-annual trip to the West Coast this week as a part of the regular Big Ten schedule. The Wolverines left Thursday and will finish the practice week at the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 facility tomorrow. Then, it\u2019s time for the third [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[3183,1825],"class_list":{"0":"post-3095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-usc","9":"tag-watch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3097,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions\/3097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}