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Newsstand: Michigan football opens as underdog at USC

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome10/06/25anthonytbroome
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The Michigan Wolverines head out to Los Angeles this weekend for another tough road test against the USC Trojans. Unlike their trip to Nebraska, and similarly to their trip down to Oklahoma, Vegas bettors are currently against them to get the job done.

Vegas odds released Sunday had Michigan as a 1.5-point underdog for Saturday’s showdown with the line now up to 2.5 points in favor of USC, according to BetMGM. The over/under for total points scored is set at 56.5 points with Michigan sitting at +110 on the moneyline. The moneyline bets have been coming in on Michigan at a 74% clip, while the spread is 50/50.

USC’s four wins this season have come against Missouri State (73-13), Georgia Southern (59-20), Purdue (33-17) and Michigan State (45-31). Before last week’s bye, Illinois beat the Trojans 34-32 in Champaign.

The Trojans are led offensively by junior quarterback Jayden Maiava, who has thrown for 1,587 yards with 11 touchdowns and an interception and leads the nation in ESPN’s QBR at 93.5. Wide receiver Makai Lemon has emerged as his favorite target with 35 grabs for 589 yards and 5 touchdowns through five games.

Saturday’s game in Los Angeles kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET as part of NBC’s Saturday Night Football coverage. Michigan’s Oct. 18 game against Washington at home will have its kickoff time and TV designation announced on Monday afternoon.

Tweets of the day

Michigan quote of the day

“The biggest improvement, and most encouraging development, was the receiver production. Specifically, the top two in McCulley and Michigan frosh Andrew Marsh. Semaj Morgan is who he is — the screen guy who can pick up some nice yardage occasionally but is also prone to the drop.  We understand completely that the Badgers’ secondary isn’t very good and is the weak spot behind a solid front seven. We’d have been concerned if there hadn’t been success. But it was the yards after catch and the tough, contested catches that have been missing that excited us. The sideline grabs by Marsh and McCulley are the kinds of catches you expect Michigan receivers to make, and they’d been lacking.  They’re going to need more of those going forward if this offense is going to continue to improve.“

– TheWolverine.com’s Chris Balas on Michigan’s wide receiver situation

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