The No. 15 Michigan Wolverines fell to 4-2 on the season after losing to the USC Trojans 31-13 on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Here are key takeaways from Michigan’s loss.
Rushing defense was abysmal
Michigan gave up 224 rushing yards, the most given up by Michigan since 2020 when Wisconsin had 351. USC put up these staggering rushing numbers despite two of their running backs being carted off due to injury. It was King Miller who took the crown and the rock for the Trojans and was impressive. Miller rushed for 158 yards and one
rushing score while making Michigan defenders look silly on long gains.
Michigan allowed open lanes in run defense, they were tentative when they had chances to tackle, they missed tackles, they didn’t wrap up, they let Miller run around them, and even through them. Michigan came into the matchup ranked No. 7 in rushing defense, a ranking that will surely fall substantially after this performance.
Michigan’s defense didn’t play with enough aggression or physicality and it’s gutcheck time for the unit.
Passing defense wasn’t much better
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava is elite, but Michigan’s defense made it too easy for him too often. Maiava was 25-of-32 for 265 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Maiava always seemed to be a step ahead of Michigan’s defense and found open targets aplenty. Maiava found soft coverages and zones and also fired it into small windows as well.
Thoughts on Wink Martindale
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale last season, but he received a lot of benefit of the doubt with a very strong November defensively including an epic win over Ohio State which was then followed by a great defensive game against Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. However, it’s now year No. 2 for Martindale at Michigan and the defense seems to be taking steps backwards and regressing across the board.
Michigan had zero sacks against USC, they were continuously blown up at the line of scrimmage, and the eye test indicates they are nowhere near being an elite defense. Michigan’s defense did not fare well against Oklahoma, they did just enough against Nebraska, and they were flat out bad against USC.
Martindale won’t care what critics say about him and he’s likely confident that the defense will turn things around this season, but it’s still a fact that the defense played uninspired football against the Trojans and should find their effort to be unacceptable.
Michigan’s offensive line struggles yet again
It’s not Michigan’s running backs, it’s not quarterback Bryce Underwood, and despite the unit having struggles this year it wasn’t the receiving unit that was the problem — it was Michigan’s offensive line. While the offensive line had its moments in run blocking, their pass protection for Underwood has been subpar at best. Underwood is under constant duress and rarely has time to throw. Underwood was sacked three times in this one but disruption via pass rush is something that’s become constant for Underwood to deal with this season as a true freshman QB1. Underwood, who went 15-of-24 for for 207 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, is still raw and makes mistakes, but we don’t even know his full potential because the line isn’t doing their job at a high enough clip. Even the best of quarterbacks struggle when they’re faced with pressure every play, and Underwood’s faced those issues admirably more often than not this season.
Andrew Marsh is a lone bright spot
Marsh replaced Channing Goodwin in the lineup last week and had the biggest game of his career against USC. Marsh had eight receptions for 138 yards with one touchdown and looks like a natural at the position who can get open short, intermediate, and deep. Marsh looks like a fluid route runner and is also a player that makes defenders miss. It was an ugly loss for Michigan, but Marsh’s production was encouraging and the chemistry between he and Underwood will only grow.
Where Michigan goes from here
Michigan’s 4-2 and their chances of making the playoffs took a major hit. Michigan’s now at a point where they shouldn’t even be thinking about the playoffs — the only thing they need to focus on is getting better, because if that doesn’t happen, they’re bound to lose multiple games the rest of the season. Next up for Michigan is a 5-1 Washington team that just beat Rutgers 38-19. While the game is at Michigan Stadium, Michigan could wind up being the underdogs. Michigan should be doubted moving forward and the only way to fix things is to acknowledge what they’re doing poorly and attack things head on. Otherwise, this season could get away from Michigan in a hurry and an 8-4 season could be more likely than a 10-2 finish.
