USC football's Lincoln Riley reveals what truly hurt Trojans in loss to Michigan
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After two big wins to start the 2024 college football season, the USC Trojans slammed into a brick wall on Saturday evening in Ann Arbor. The No. 11 USC football suffered a 27-24 loss to the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines to the tune of a 27-23 score.
The Trojans came close to stealing a win in Michigan territory, but they failed to take care of a four-point lead in the fourth quarter. For USC football head coach Lincoln Riley, one big thing that contributed to the doom of the Trojans at Michigan Stadium was his team’s failure to keep the Wolverines from making big plays.
“The thing that hurt us were big plays, Riley said after the game, per Shotgun Spratling. “Every drive they had a score on I think they had an explosive play,” Riley added.
“We probably won 80-85% of the defensive snaps, but the ones we lost, we lost big.”
Riley could have also just dropped the name of Michigan running back Kalel Mullings, who was an absolute beast on the field against USC football. Mullings had two of the most memorable games in the contest. The senior tailback struck early, as he put Michigan on the board with a sensational 53-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
And with the Wolverines down by four points with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Mullings broke tackles and left USC football defenders in the dust for a 63-yard gain on the same drive that he finished with a one-yard touchdown to put Michigan ahead for good.
Game on the line. Michigan needs to drive nearly the length of the field for the victory.
Former Milton Academy (@MA_Fball) star Kalel Mullings wins it, almost singlehandedly. On top of this run, he adds the clinching touchdown with a rush moments later.
pic.twitter.com/2t7EUsP9N3— Brendan Connelly (@BConn63) September 22, 2024
When it was all said and done on the field, Mullings had generated 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He averaged 9.4 yards per rushing attempt. There was also Michigan wide receiver Fredrick Moore having 15 rushing yards on a single attempt and running back Donovan Edwards racking up 74 rushing yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries for an average of 5.3 yards per touch out of the backfield. Michigan’s rushing attack was just too much for USC football, which allowed just 200 total yards to opponents during its first two games of the 2024 season.
USC football’s offense not enough to overcome defensive shortcomings
USC football wasn’t too shabby either on offense, as the Trojans outgained the Wolverines, 379-322. However, only 96 of those yards came on the ground, with Miller Moss leading the passing attack. Moss had 283 passing yards and three touchdowns with an interception on 28-of-51 completions. Each of his touchdowns was thrown to a different target downfield. Zachariah Branch led USC with 98 receiving yards on six receptions, though, he did not score a touchdown while running back Woody Marks had 100 rushing yards on a total of 13 carries.
The Trojans dropped to 2-1 overall this season after losing their first conference game in the Big Ten. They will look to pick up the pieces following the loss to Michigan and bounce back on Sept. 27 versus the Wisconsin Badgers at home.
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