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Best and worst from Michigan's loss at Southern Cal

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff10/12/25thewolverineon3

By Clayton Sayfie

LOS ANGELES — Michigan Wolverines football fell to USC Saturday evening at the Memorial Coliseum, losing 31-13. Here are the best and worst from the game.

Best player

USC redshirt freshman running back King Miller had 152 career rushing yards entering the day, before going off for 158 Saturday night. The former walk-on rushed 18 times and had a couple back-breaking ones in the third quarter, including a 49-yarder on third-and-26 and then, two plays later, dashing 15 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to put the Trojans up 21-7.

Trojans wide receiver Makai Lemon also has a case to win this award. He caught 9 passes for 93 yards on 10 targets. Michigan didn’t really have an answer for him, even when it executed its defense.

Right before halftime, quarterback Jayden Maiava threw a perfect pass for a contested catch on a fade route in the end zone with freshman cornerback Jayden Sanders in coverage. With the Wolverines rushing only three, graduate safety Rod Moore had over the top coverage but couldn’t make a play because of how well-thrown the pass was.

Worst injury

Michigan junior running back Justice Haynes went down with an injury to the rib area late in the second quarter, and given his home-run ability, it’s hard to say that wasn’t a game-changer, even though sophomore Jordan Marshall played well in his absence. Haynes could break a long touchdown run at any moment, and the Wolverines could’ve used one of those — badly — given the way the offense struggled.

Haynes rushed 10 times for 51 yards, well on his way to his patented 100-plus yards, but Marshall was still productive, with 68 yards on 14 carries. This was the first time this season that the Maize and Blue actually needed to lean on their running back depth. We even saw junior Bryson Kuzdzal — a former walk-on — get some snaps and a carry when Marshall came out for a stretch, looking banged up before returning.

Oddest situation

USC was also banged up at running back, with Eli Sanders going down on his first touch, an 11-yard reception, and lead ball-carrier Waymond Jordan suffering a first-half injury. Miller got a bunch of run, having the game of his life, and the Trojans even used Bryan Jackson — who was listed as ‘out’ on the pregame Big Ten availability report. Jackson, who is dealing with turf toe, wasn’t expected to be needed and was actually in sweatpants for the majority of the game before going into the locker room to suit up. Jackson had a 29-yard touchdown run to add an exclamation point to the win, putting his team up 31-13.

Here’s what USC head coach Lincoln Riley said about the situation: “So, unique situation. I want to say this well, so you guys don’t rake me over the coals if I don’t say it perfectly, but it was a wellness issue, obviously, in the game. He’s been practicing in a very limited capacity in a build up for the last several weeks. He’s had a turf toe. And so there was the expectation coming into this game that outside of just a near catastrophe, that we weren’t going to play him.

“And so the game plays out. We have a couple injuries that you never obviously expect to happen. Two of them, just like that. We were able to get in communication with the league office, explain the situation. Our doctors medically cleared him, and again, it just became a wellness issue for us here. So yeah, we made sure to clear it. The kid was ready to go and stepped up. And I mean, that’s what you gotta have, man. You gotta have tough guys that play through stuff if you want to win at this level. You gotta have guys that sacrifice like that for the team.”

Biggest role reversal

Michigan’s defense was carved up by USC’s offense, which is one of the best in the country according to major statistical categories. The Wolverines allowed 31 points — the most they have in a game since last season’s 38-17 loss to Oregon.

The most concerning of them all: USC rushed for 224 yards, the most Michigan has allowed since Texas Christian racked up 263 in a 51-45 win in the CFP semifinal Dec. 31, 2022. The kind of rushing success USC had is something we’d expect out of Michigan against the Trojans, whose rush defense has been a big issue this season and for years.

On the flip side, Michigan’s offense couldn’t do much, scoring 13 points and totaling 316 yards. The USC defense played like Michigan’s, in a wild turn of events.

Here are the point totals for USC opponents this season:
• Illinois: 34
• Michigan State: 31
• Georgia Southern: 20
• Purdue: 17
• Michigan & Missouri State: 13

Michigan is averaging just 20 points per game against Power Four opponents. Despite its success against Group of Five teams, the Wolverines have a long, long way to go offensively.

Failure to capitalize

Michigan forced 2 turnovers, both when USC was in the red zone, but didn’t capitalize with any points off of them. The Wolverines have continued to turn teams over, with 2 on the day, but also gave the ball away once when it mattered (sophomore quarterback Jadyn Davis’ pick on fourth down late didn’t).

Michigan also had the ball in ‘scoring position’ twice but came away with no points. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood took a sack on third-and-9 on the USC 32-yard line, knocking U-M out of field goal range. Later on, he threw an interception on third-and-10 from the USC 29-yard line. The Wolverines were down 14 points at that juncture, so a field goal wouldn’t have meant a whole lot, but giving away points is still disappointing. It became an 11-point game later, so those three could’ve been crucial.

Biggest surprise

USC’s rushing success qualifies as the biggest surprise and perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the game. The Trojans had five runs of 15-plus yards, including three of 29-plus yards.

The first-down success with both runs and quick passes was an area that USC used to its advantage, staying ahead of the sticks, keeping the entire play book open and Michigan’s defense off balance. The Trojans averaged 7.4 yards on first down.

Longest play

Michigan freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh has been a bright spot over the last two weeks, and he stepped up with a big game once again. The 6-foot, 175-pounder reeled in 8 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown — a 69-yarder that brought Michigan within 11 points early in the fourth quarter.

The 69-yard strike was Michigan’s longest passing play since a 75-yard touchdown from J.J. McCarthy to Cornelius Johnson in a 45-23 win over Ohio State in 2022.

Worst trend

For the third time in six games and the second-straight contest, Michigan has allowed an opening-drive touchdown. Falling behind 7-0 isn’t ideal, especially for a team that leans on the run game and isn’t built to play from behind. The Wolverines will get more dynamic as the Underwood era unfolds, but right now they’re not there.

Worst call

This was a touchdown for wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, not offensive pass interference.

Could’ve been worse

Michigan allowed 489 total yards, 7.2 yards per play, and honestly, it could’ve been much worse. Credit junior cornerback Jyaire Hill for punching a ball out and senior EDGE Derrick Moore recovering it as USC was in line to score on its second drive, and senior cornerback Zeke Berry hauling in an interception on third-and-12 from the U-M 15-yard line. An incompletion, and USC would’ve had three more points.

Lack of pressure and poor tackling

Maiava got the ball out in 2.27 seconds on average, throwing a lot of quick passes, but Michigan still failed to get pressure on the longer-developing passing plays. The Wolverines pressured Maiava on only 5 of his 33 dropacks and didn’t have a single sack. That 15.2-percent pressure rate is the second-lowest USC has allowed this season. Illinois (37.8), Purdue (26.7), Georgia Southern (24) and Missouri State (22.2) all got more frequent pressure on Maiava.

‘Tackling’ was a big talking point following the game, with Michigan’s defenders disappointed in their effort. There were a lot of issues, but there’s no question that was one of them. According to PFF, the Wolverines missed 14 tackles on the evening.

Screened to death

USC screened Michigan to death, throwing 11 such passes, completing all of them, for 92 yards. That’s a whopping 8.4 yards per attempt on simple flips out to the side or up the middle. Michigan didn’t get off of blocks or tackle well in space.