USC Trojans' Improved Run Defense Struggles Against Michigan in First Big Ten Battle

Despite looking strong to start the season, the USC Trojans defense had trouble stopping Michigan's ground attack in USC's first loss of the year.

Sep 21, 2024; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Kalel Mullings (20) rushes for a touchdown in the second half against the USC Trojans at Michigan Stadium. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

After impressive performances against LSU and Utah State, the USC Trojans' defense looked completely revamped under new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn.

One game into Big Ten play, however, the early-season improvements to Southern California's defense looked like more of a mirage than a reality.

USC gave up 290 yards on the ground and 6.3 yards per carry against Michigan in week four, resulting in a Trojans loss despite out-gaining the Wolverines. Of course, a pick six from USCquarterback Miller Moss does not help the Lynn's group, but allowing nearly 300 rushing yards is certainly an issue for Southern Cal.

Despite the contest's outcome and the Trojans lackluster run defense against Michigan coach Sherrone Moore's bunch, Lincoln Riley seems to like what he saw from his team.

"They've got good players up front, quarterback is athletic," Riley said after the game. "The thing that hurt us was big plays. I mean, the drives, they had a pick six, and then they had, I think every drive that they got a score on was, there was an explosive play. And that was the name of the game. ... We probably won 80-85% of the defensive snaps. But we lost some of them big, and that's the mistakes that you can't make, things that we'll have to clean up. . . . They had, you know, a couple of big plays. And then we had a lot of times where, you know, we were stuffing them in the backfield. So I think it was just kind of a classic back and forth fight."

Outside of chunk plays, the Trojans defense had trouble getting off the field in big moments, as Michigan went 3-for-3 on fourth down conversion attempts.

Michigan quarterback Alex Orji (10) runs against USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold (4) during the first half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Wolverines ability to run the ball successfully and move the chains each time they faced a turnover on downs points to a poor performance from USC's defensive line.

Despite the Wolverines success on the ground, Lynn's unit was able to make Michigan one-dimensional, as Moore's team completed just seven passed for 32 yards. Yet, even with the Wolverines struggling through the air, the Trojans were unable to stop a solid rushing attack from Kalel Mullings, Donovan Edwards and Alex Orji.

Southern Cal's defense still has plenty of time to improve as the season progresses and is clearly a better unit than the team had during its 2023 campaign. The Trojans held Utah State to 87 rushing yards while LSU could only muster 114 yards on the ground in week one.

While a 290-yard outing by the Wolverines appears to be an outlier against the USC defense, the Trojans will play a number of teams on their inaugural Big Ten schedule that will look to attack Lynn's group on the ground.

If Southern California's defense is able to prevent opposing offenses from generating big plays on the ground, USC should be able to bounce back from its loss to Michigan and still compete for a conference title and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

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