Michigan runs to 27-24 victory over USC in smash-filled, statement win

It didn’t take long to figure out exactly what the No. 18 Michigan football team wanted to do against No. 11 Southern California.

The Wolverines wanted to smash. They wanted to play classic, tried and true, bully-ball Big Ten football. And in their first conference game, facing a West Coast newcomer, it worked.

In junior quarterback Alex Orji’s first start, Michigan’s (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) run-heavy offense — powered by graduate running back Kalel Mullings — and dominant defense proved just enough to beat USC (2-1, 0-1), 27-24. 

Early in the game, Michigan’s defensive front immediately lived up to its billing. Junior defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham stuffed the Trojans at the line of scrimmage, while senior edge rusher Josaiah Stewart proved lethal off the edge.

After a few punts back and forth, the Wolverines struck first toward the end of the first quarter. Following a key fourth-down conversion, Mullings found a small hole and turned it into a big one. He put Michigan on the board with a 53-yard house call.

Continuing to dominate the field position battle and line of scrimmage, the Wolverines forced four consecutive USC punts before extending their lead midway through the second quarter. Senior running back Donovan Edwards’ patient running paid off as he contributed a long touchdown of his own, bouncing left for a 41-yard score.

The Trojans got on the board with a field goal late in the second quarter, but Michigan’s defense got the last laugh heading into the break. Grant broke through again and sacked USC quarterback Miller Moss as the clock ran out, thwarting a late two-minute drill and preserving the Wolverines’ 14-3 lead.

The Trojans battled right back at the beginning of the second half, though. They finally started to find a rhythm on offense, helped by the return of Michigan’s long-term tackling issues. Moss marched USC down the field and capped off the drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Trojans receiver Duce Robinson.

But just as it started to feel like USC was taking control, junior cornerback Will Johnson snatched it right back. Johnson jumped a route, intercepted Moss and ran 42 yards back for a pick-six — putting Michigan up 20-10 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

On the Trojans’ ensuing drive, however, a stunning turn of events — in which Stewart forced Moss to fumble, Grant recovered and started running the ball back before USC running back Woody Marks stripped the ball from Grant and regained possession for the Trojans — led to USC receiver Ja’Kobi Lane wide open at the goal line, bringing the Trojans right back within three points.

With just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, USC forced another game-changing fumble. The ball was punched out of Edwards’ hands and recovered on the Wolverines’ 18-yard-line. The Trojans quickly capitalized with another passing touchdown to earn their first lead of the day, up 24-20.

But six minutes later, Mullings took matters into his own hands. Spinning out of multiple tackles, he broke off a 63-yard statement run, bringing Michigan all the way to USC’s 17-yard line. With 37 seconds left on the clock, Mullings punched it in on fourth-and-1 to give the Wolverines a 27-24 lead, which they carried to the final whistle.

Opening conference play with a bang, Michigan — and especially Mullings — took Big Ten football and smashed it in USC’s face.

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