ANN ARBOR, Mich. —
It appeared, at first, like simply the kind of old style Huge Ten welcome that might have made Bo Schembechler swoon. Two defenses swarming to the ball. Two speeding assaults grinding away, one yard, two yards, three yards at a time. Two coaches cautious of the ahead go. And within the wreckage stood USC, the brand new Huge Ten workforce on the block, pressured right into a overseas type of soccer firstly of a brand new period.
This was not, nonetheless, the kind of sport Lincoln Riley had hoped to wind up in for USC’s Huge Ten debut, along with his new quarterback underneath heavy assault and his new protection holding on for pricey life and the sport’s each beat dictated by the defending nationwide champs.
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Even nonetheless, a fourth-quarter pressured fumble helped give the Trojans a lead late, one which appeared, for a second, insurmountable for a one-dimensional Michigan offense incapable of piling up quite a lot of dozen yards by the air. However then Michigan’s Kalel Mullings took a third-down handoff and saved working, by one deal with, then one other, then one other. He rumbled and spun his manner into scoring place 63 yards, erasing any hope that had been there only a few minutes earlier than for USC.
As a substitute, right here was Michigan — a workforce that would barely go greater than the 5 yards downfield—– contained in the two-yard-line with 37 seconds remaining. And right here was USC’s protection, sufferer of one other huge play, huffing and puffing, earlier than Mullings burst into the tip zone as soon as once more, handing the Trojans a 27-24 defeat.
“We had a couple opportunities to close the door,” Riley stated. “But we finished one play short.”
All of it turned so shortly. Only some minutes earlier, it appeared a herculean, second-half effort is likely to be sufficient for USC to outlive its first new convention check. Till Mullings burst by the second stage on that closing drive, the Trojans had held Michigan’s offense to seven complete yards after halftime.
USC receiver Duce Robinson (2) is introduced down by Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham after a catch within the first half Saturday.
(Paul Sancya / Related Press)
Linebacker Eric Gentry had even punched out a fumble on the earlier drive, giving USC the ball contained in the crimson zone to cap off his 12-tackle efficiency. The Trojans shortly took benefit, as Miller Moss discovered Ja’Kobi Lane with a daring go between two defenders for a landing that appeared to place the sport away.
However a back-breaking huge run as soon as once more derailed what was in any other case a stifling second-half defensive efficiency. Mullings had already sprinted 53 yards for a first-quarter landing, solely to be adopted shortly after by fellow again Donovan Edwards, who broke off a 41-yard rating within the second quarter.
The three explosive scampers have been almost all of the offense Michigan may muster. It averaged simply three yards on their different 55 performs.
That, because it turned out, was all they wanted.
“It was just better execution by them,” linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold stated. “We had all the fight. It wasn’t that they wanted it more than us. That was a four-quarter fight. But when it comes down to big games like this, you’ve got to execute.”
It didn’t assist that USC’s offense opened the sport unable to maneuver the ball quite a lot of inches, content material to match Michigan in its try to muck up the sport and grind away on the bottom. One workforce simply did it higher as Michigan had 199 speeding yards to USC’s minus-16 at half.
Riley definitely ought to’ve identified that’s how the sport may unfold, having been given a full 5 days to plan for a brand new quarterback who’d thrown solely seven complete passes coming into Saturday. Alex Orji in the end threw for simply 32 yards in his first begin, whereas Michigan punted eight instances.
USC was unable to take benefit. After three possessions, two of which went backward, the Trojans had simply three complete yards.
“The defense played their ass off the entire game,” Moss stated. “We didn’t help them out much early on.”
Moss did what he may to energy USC’s offense after that gradual begin. When the Trojans lastly got here to life late within the second quarter, it was due to Moss’ poise in a crumbling pocket.
He completed with 283 yards and three touchdowns, however his largest mistake haunted the Trojans the remainder of the best way. After reducing the result in 4 with a landing go to Duce Robinson, USC’s protection pressured a three-and-out, giving the Trojans an opportunity to steal Michigan’s momentum.
As a substitute, Moss handed it proper again, throwing his first pick-six to All-American Michigan cornerback Will Johnson.
“I feel like I cost our team in a big way,” Moss stated. “You can’t do that against a good team. I have to be a lot better.”
The identical, too, might be stated of a USC defensive entrance that allowed 290 yards on the bottom. Or a coach whose play-calling was repeatedly known as into query Saturday, together with within the fourth quarter.
One blemish within the Huge Ten, in opposition to the three-time defending convention champs, will hardly sink USC’s School Soccer Playoff hopes, in the identical manner that three huge speeding performs gained’t outline the progress of the Trojans’ retooled protection.
However Saturday was a impolite welcome for USC, nonetheless, to a convention that’s content material to bully the brand new child on the block.
