Once USC took its opening drive for a touchdown, Saturday's Big Ten showdown in Los Angeles never felt like a game Michigan football could win.
The Wolverines didn't lead. They were only tied twice, for a few minutes. Once to start the game, and again late in the second quarter after Bryce Underwood connected with Donaven McCulley for the first of two touchdown passes by the freshman QB.
It wasn't enough, though. USC breezed down the field on the next drive. Then, early in the third quarter, after a 3-and-out by Michigan to open the stanza, the Trojans converted a third-and-26, with a run play, like it was nothing.
Every screen was successful, at least that's how it seemed, including a bunch on the opening drive. The pass rush failed (zero sacks), and the defensive line got pushed around.
USC ran for 224 yards. Michgan had just 109. Justice Haynes left the game due to injury but it didn't matter. The Trojans whipped the Wolverines in every phase of the game.
If it wasn't for two red-zone turnovers, USC would have scored 40. Michigan, even with some good fortune would have been lucky to reach 20.
Red Flags are abundant
The red flags are everywhere. Bryce Underwood had some good moments. He was 15 of 24 for 207 yards and a touchdown. But he still feels way too much like a freshman. He talked the talk in the offseason but hasn't walked the walk.
Underwood missed open receivers, made some poor throws, and just looked like a freshman, which is fine. That's what he is. The problem is that Michigan's defense isn't elite. I don't even know if it's good. It certainly can't tackle or cover. The pass rush, outside of Nebraska, has been nonexistent.
Michigan has six sacks in five games against teams not named Nebraska. The Wolverines have one the past two weeks.
Every quarterback with a pulse has shredded Michigan. Nebraska, USC, and Oklahoma averaged 27.3 points per game. That's not a fluke. It's just bad defense.
I lost track of the third-and-long conversions. USC has an elite offense but 489 yards is an embarassment.
Frankly, this team and this defense have been overestimated.
It's irrelevant. At least on the national scale. Michigan has a prayer of making the playoff, assuming it can win the next five games ahead of Ohio State, which is far from a guarantee with Washington looming next week.
And as poor as the 2024 team looked at times, the 2025 team looks even less equipped to compete with Ohio State. Inexplicably, Sherrone Moore's team has looked better with him off the sideline than on it.
I don't know what that means. But it's not good. Neither is the fact that Michigan looked completely unprepared in the road trips to Oklahoma and USC. The special teams are bad. Michigan can't even figure out how to put its best players on the field when it matters most, such as the last drive of the first half when it started with Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham on the bench, because you know, the rotation is the rotation.
A loss is one thing. This was something else and it feels like it's becoming a familiar story for Michigan football.