Rarely do you get a classic blueblood matchup live up to the hype, but Saturday was the case in The Big House as USC Football heartbreakingly fell to defending national champion and underdog Michigan 27-24. Amidst the game’s pageantry, energy, and volatility, here is everything to digest with this USC Trojans team.
Five Takeaways For USC Football Moving Forward
It’s Always Miller Time
Miller Moss demonstrated a combination of grit, poise, and skill that few, if any of today’s college football quarterbacks possess.
Standing tall in the pocket despite taking a repeated pounding (more on that later), USC’s unquestioned leader was inspiring even in defeat.
Two plays that epitomized this toughness were first on the Trojans second-to-last possession of the first half already down 14-0. Moss evaded a clean corner blitz, reestablished getting back on platform, and found Zachariah Branch in stride on a crossing route that led to a 42-yard play and the first points for USC football on the day.
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The latter was Moss, yet again, standing firm in a collapsing pocket in the fourth quarter with the Men of Troy trailing 20-17, and finding Ja’Kobi Lane right between a shallow corner and the closing centerfield Michigan safety to laser a 24-yard pass only Lane could highpoint for the seemingly game-winning touchdown catch.
Even in defeat, the 2024 season is in great hands with Moss holding the keys.
Linebackers Are Defensive Strength
Look. this isn’t 2008, but the linebacker trio of Eric Gentry, Mason Cobb, and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold are unquestionably this defense’s heart, soul, and guts.
The three combined for 24 tackles on Saturday with Cobb and Gentry being particularly phenomenal.
The former was disruptive with 1.5 tackles for loss while the latter was a zealous one-man wrecking crew in route to 12 tackles, three for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and recovery of star running back Donovan Edwards’ last carry of the game with about eight minutes left that set up the Moss-to-Lane connection.
After Moss, it’s these three that will determine how far the USC Trojans go this season.
True “Fight On” Spirit
The game was hardly an aesthetic masterpiece and there were plenty of moments where the USC Trojans could have folded and mentally retreated back to Hollywood, but refused to do so. Down 14-3 at the half, USC came out with a conscientious offensive line adjustment that led to the game’s only true drive – a 12-play 75-yard possession culminating in Moss to Duce Robinson for nine yards in the back of the end zone that immediately got USC back within one score.
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Then, immediately after Moss’ 42-yard pick six to All-American cornerback Will Johnson that upped the lead back to 20-10 for the Maize and Blue and gave them all the momentum, Woody Marks passionately ran for 65 yards on third and two all the way to the Wolverine 2-yard line. Three plays later, after Moss fumbled from strong side edge pressure, Marks found a way to chase down Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant’s recovery, strip the ball, and restore Trojan possession. Finally, two plays later, Moss found Jay Fair on a coverage bust to make it 20-17.
Every time it seemed like Michigan would run away with the game the Trojans scrapped their way to creating a play that closed the gap. A vital characteristic for long-term success.
Offensive Line Destruction
This was the unit that Trojan fans should wake up in the middle of the night frantically thinking about with a cold sweat. Moss was either sacked, knocked down, or hurried 31 times out of his 55 dropbacks, an alarming 56% pressure rate.
Outside of the opening drive of the second half, where Elijah Paige was benched, Mason Murphy moved to left tackle and Tobias Raymond moved to right tackle, as Michigan seemingly needed a possession to adjust their scheme, the Trojans pathetically could not keep Moss upright.
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There was a lot of positivity coming out of the LSU game about this unit’s performance – in hindsight, that seemed to stem more from the Tigers inexperience, than the Trojans effectiveness.
If the offensive line doesn’t improve drastically and frantically, the chances of Moss staying healthy and thus the Trojans having a meaningful playoff-worthy season, is remote.
Defensive Line Embarrassment
The other side of the trenches was polarizing. On the one hand, one could say the overall front seven only gave up three big running plays out of 46 attempts all game. On the other hand, the front four being the primary culprit in giving up 290 rushing yards to a team that didn’t throw a forward pass in the air beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage the entire game, is embarrassing.
The Wolverines’ 32 passing yards were their fewest in a game since 1987 and also represented the paltriest aerial attack by ANYONE to beat a top-15 team in over a decade.
The sad reality is everyone knew the Wolverines didn’t have a passing attack to speak of coming into the contest, and the fact USC couldn’t stop the obviousness of a repeated running game, particularly on that last drive, when Michigan needed to go 89 yards at one point with just over three minutes left to play, and still had eight consecutive running plays, is borderline unconscionable. For all the positives, it’s hard to walk away on the losing end of a 1940s single-wing offense without some degree of doubt.
There was some good, some bad, and some ugly. Time to turn the page and get ready for a visit from the Trojans’ ultimate frenemy, Alex Grinch, in what is shaping up to be quite the trap game.