There aren't many college football experts who know Michigan football as well as Joel Klatt, who covers the sport for Fox Sports.
Klatt also produces a weekly podcast on college football. It's insightful, and he spent some time on Thursday's episode discussing the Michigan-USC game on Saturday in Los Angeles.
It should be a fascinating matchup. The Trojans are a 2.5-point favorite. Michigan is the ranked team (No. 15), but each program is 4-1 and looking to enter the playoff race in earnest.
Michigan has won a true road game this season, at Nebraska. USC is unbeaten at home, but the best win was over Michigan State. The Trojans will have to play at another level to beat Michigan, especially in the trenches.
Joel Klatt predicts Michigan football to beat USC
Klatt believes Michigan will be able to run the ball even better than Illinois. He also said the Trojans can't just rely on throwing the football, which is what they did last season in a loss against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.
"This is a team that can lean on that physicality, and this is where I would go back to. If USC just tries to lean on the pass game, that hasn't worked for them in the past. They need to run it with Waymond Jordan. They need to be more physical with their defense, and the evidence suggests that that's not available to them because we haven't seen it. Now, could that change? Certainly. Could it change for Texas? Certainly. But the evidence tells you that it's not there," Klatt said.
If Michigan is able to run the ball with Justice Haynes and stop the run, that will be a great sign for the Wolverines. The difference between this season and last season is that Michigan can throw the ball.
Bryce Underwood has just two touchdown passes this season, but he threw for 215 yards in one half against Wisconsin. He should be able to find success, at least to the point that USC won't be able to stack the box.
Klatt said he sees Underwood playing. He also believes Michigan, the more physical team, will win the game on Saturday night.
"I've got to take the more physical team, even on the road, getting two and a half," Klatt said. "I like Michigan in this game. I'll take the two and a half. I'll take them to win this one straight-up, 27-24. I think Bryce Underwood actually plays really well. Watch out for that passing game off of play action once they get themselves going, running the football with Justice Haynes. That's something that I think could really be effective for them in this ball game against USC. But like I said, that could be -- in all likelihood will be the best game of the weekend, at least in my estimation as I'm looking at it."