USC RB King Miller (6-0, 210) sprints by MICH DB Mason Curtis on a 49-yd run during the third quarter of the Trojans’ 31-13 win at the Coliseum on Saturday night. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
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Walk-on King Miller rushed for 148 yards after USC’s top two running backs were injured, leading the Trojans to a 31-13 win over No. 15 Michigan.
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The redshirt freshman’s breakaway runs in the second half broke open the game for the Trojans.
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USC’s defense held Michigan to 207 passing yards and 3.5 yards per carry, bouncing back from a disastrous loss to Illinois.
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — The walk-on took his place next to USC’s quarterback, the last man standing in a battered backfield. In the midst of a bruising Big Ten battle with Michigan, where brawn and ball control were at a premium, both of the Trojans’ top two running backs had already been carted up the Coliseum tunnel. Two of their top linemen, meanwhile, started Saturday in street clothes. The circumstances were anything but ideal for a team whose season hung in the balance.
King Miller, though, was already familiar with beating long odds. Not long ago, the redshirt freshman was buried on the depth chart, a preferred walk-on from Calabasas High without any obvious path to playing time at USC. He’d chosen the Trojans over other opportunities, knowing he might not ever get his shot.
But that was before Saturday, before Miller saw a crease in the Michigan defense, before he took off on a breakaway, game-changing run that broke open the game and eventually lifted USC to a statement-making, 31-13 win over No. 15 Michigan.
“It was all honestly just a dream come true, man,” Miller said. “I’m just honestly so grateful.”
Certainly no one was more thankful than Lincoln Riley, who entered Saturday with a measly four victories in 15 tries over ranked teams during his tenure as the Trojans coach. Considering how poorly USC had played in its last outing — a ranked loss to Illinois in late September — this was perhaps the Trojans’ most resounding win among those few.
“Really just an awesome performance,” Riley said. “A gritty, tough performance. Just felt like they were not gonna come out here with anything less than a win.”
They also emerged with a conceivable path into the College Football Playoff conversation, one that would open up even further with a win in South Bend next Saturday.
But the fact that this particular victory came behind a back who had to pay his own tuition to be a Trojan only made it all the more memorable. Just twice in the past 50 years had a walk-on ever even scored a recorded touchdown at USC — the most recent being Miller himself, earlier this season.
Lincoln Riley congratulates King Miller after Miller’s TD carry in the third quarter against MICH. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
Miller had just two carries for 10 yards to his name, when Waymond Jordan, the Trojans’ leading rusher, hopped off the field in the second quarter, unable to put any weight on his foot.
As Jordan left, running backs coach Anthony Jones went to Miller. He reiterated his confidence in him. Just do what you do, he told him.
“He always preaches to us, ‘Whatever we want, we can do,’” Miller said. “The whole room is amazing. No matter who you put in there, we always believe that we can go shock the world.”
The rest of Miller’s outing would indeed reverberate across an eventful weekend of college football. Miller’s next 16 carries ultimately went for 148 yards, more than any team has rushed against Michigan this season.
“It’s just what he does in practice,” Riley said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a humble guy. He cares about this team a lot. And honestly, hell, we didn’t have anybody else. So what else was I gonna do, you know?”
How long USC will be without its other backs is still unclear. Riley said the injury to Eli Sanders is likely to be season-ending, while Jordan’s status is still up in the air.
But Miller proved Saturday that he could carry the load, if need be.
His outburst began with that breakaway early in the third quarter, as Miller slipped through a hole and took off, stutter-stepping his way past one Michigan defender and into the open field. Miller ultimately was tackled, only to punch in a touchdown two plays later.
“Whenever I see green grass,” Miller said, “I just try to go out there and get what I can.”
The score gave USC a 21-7 lead that it would never relinquish. But Miller wasn’t done with his breakout performance. He sprinted away for a similar 47-yard gain on the very next drive.
The difference Saturday was on the ground. USC’s defense held Michigan to 109 rushing yards, less than half of its usual total. Its offense, meanwhile, ran for 86 more yards than Michigan has allowed all season. It finished with 224.
Backup tailback Bryan Jackson, ruled out before kickoff, suited up only after USC got permission from the Big Ten office to activate him … so that he could come on and dart in for a dagger-plunging 29-yard score with 4:21 left.
It was a testament to the last week and USC’s renewed efforts at the line of scrimmage, where the Trojans have been fighting perception as a team incapable of matching up with the Big Ten’s more physical outfits. That simply wasn’t the case Saturday, though. USC was without two of its steadiest offensive linemen, Elijah Paige and Kilian O’Connor, and still managed to dominate at the point of attack.
USC TE Walker Lyons makes a first-down gesture after catching a pass in the first half of the Trojans’ win over MICH. (Gina Ferazzi/LAT)
“It says we’re a tough-ass physical program,” Riley said. “That’s what it says.”
That statement was most encouraging on the defensive end, where USC bounced back to shut down Michigan and its standout freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. After weeks of its secondary being picked apart, USC held Underwood to just 207 yards on 15-of-24 passing.
“We got into some exotic looks with this young quarterback,” said safety Bishop Fitzgerald, who snagged his fourth interception of the season. “We threw a lot at him.”
There were other positive signs for USC. For one, it committed just three penalties, a season-low.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava was largely steady. The junior did throw a horrible interception in the red zone, when USC could have put the game away in the third quarter. Still, he finished with 265 yards passing and two touchdowns.
The Trojans looked bound for a big night on that end when it burst out of the gate, hellbent on redeeming themselves from their previous defeat. USC rolled through one touchdown drive, then rolled into the red zone for another, before tight end Lake McRee gave up an ill-timed fumble.
Michigan looked like it might seize that momentum in the moment, as it mounted consecutive 11- and 14-play drives. But after Miller broke away in the third quarter, the Wolverines never cut the lead to a single score again.
“They were eager,” Riley said, “and they just rose to the occasion in every single way. Our players, our future players, L.A., just everyone liked to see that. And it was an important step. I’ll definitely concede that.”
Gleeful Eric Gentry celebrates with Trojan fan after defeating MICH 31-13. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
Magical Trojan WR Makai Lemon leaps for a first down against MICH in the second half. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
latimes.com
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SC is #2 in the nation in total offense. They’re #2 in the nation in passing offense. They’re #3 in the nation in offensive points scored. In rushing offense they are #16 in the nation but 7 of the teams ahead of them are not major football college teams(Navy, Army, Jacksonville State, Air Force, Texas State, Old Dominion, James Madison) and therefore are not playing against major defenses. That’s why I hate giving up on LR. He knows how to build a great offense. So all you have to do is get someone who knows how to build a great… Read more »
When David Bailey(from Mater Dei) left Stanford and went in the transfer portal, the argument was don’t spend money on him. He’s only got one year left. I’m beginning to wonder if that was a good argument. At this point he’s leading the nation in sacks with 8.5 sacks.
I think SC’s offense is going to be a lot better when they get Paige and Lane back. Lane is not 100%. This guy caught 12 TD passes last year. So far he hasn’t done that much at all even though they are using him. This is not the same Lane that played last year. They say he has a shoulder problem and he can’t lift one of his shoulders very high at all. So, at this point, the defense only has to concentrate on one receiver……Lemon. When Lane is 100%, the defense will have double trouble. Also, I don’t… Read more »
As it was Lane caught 5 and a TD, second after Lemon for catches. Yea get him 100% look out. Riley and Jayden are also hitting the TEs and RBs. Riley is really uses his OC playcaller skills this season. It was cool to see 2 starting OL out and the offense was still clicking. We may actually be getting some depth there. If we had pretty good DBs we would be unbeatable.
Athletically, Reid may be the best center SC has. They say he’s a mauler on running plays. The problem with him was that he had to learn a totally new play book. The center is the QB of the offensive line.You would like your QB and center to be a vocal leader. Reid is certainly that. They call him ‘the general’. I really think SC may have gotten an upgrade at center when O’Conner went down. And they are really high on Willi Wascher as the center of the future. I remember when he first signed on and I looked… Read more »
I knew(and said it in the off-season) that LR would re-structure his offense in 2025 to look like the 7 years he coached at Oklahoma. During those 7 years He ran the ball 55% of the time and threw the ball 45% of the time. So far this year he has thrown the ball 46.5% of the time and run it 53.5% of the time. Last year he threw the ball about 59.5% of the time and ran the ball 40.5% of the time. So you can see the difference. After last years mediocre offense, he decided that we need… Read more »
Cignetti being mentioned as a possible replacement for Franklin.
We will see how serious IU is in keeping Cignetti. He would be attractive to Penn St. but I would start with Urban Meyer. Any HC job in college I would start with Meyer, then Cignetti. I might be tempted to then look at Lane Kiffin. Whoever you look at better have a winning experience as a HC in Big Ten/SEC or find a Dan Lanning clone. But stay away from Jimbo Fisher & Gruden unless you want another Franklin on your hands.
Mentioning and getting are very different. Remember all the names mentioned when USC was shopping? Penn St isn’t really that attractive of a job, I doubt the Kiffins would want it and nobody should be thinking about Meyer, leave him in the booth. They need a guy that can really recruit because the program is going to loose a lot of players now. Matt Rhule would be a good fit.
Look for a Cignetti clone. Franklin did little with a lot. Cignetti does a lot with little. Cignetti should be getting a pay raise this week from Hoosiers.
He reminds me of Wittingham at Utah.
Whittingham is one of the best coaches in the country. He builds great teams with not great talent.
After I turned off the TV, Michigan scored the obvious end to their drive that caught me saying I’ve seen enough. However I went out to the BBQ and started the charcoal in or chimney starter to grill the steaks we had planned for our anniversary dinner. When I came inside, after the charcoal was ready, and found my wife had turned the game back on. What I saw is something I missed noting in other games and that is physical conditioning. For years USC has been pushed around like 98lb weaklings getting sand kicked in their faces. Every year… Read more »
So you are going to stick around and watch the ND game?
I know how it is. USC has burned me so many times going soft in the second half. But they played smash mouth with a smash mouth team. The future looks good. Hope all those recruits enjoyed what they are coming into
Week 8 AP Top 25
1 Ohio State
2 Miami
3 Indiana
4 Texas A&M
5 Ole Miss
6 Alabama
7 Texas Tech
8 Oregon
9 Georgia
10 LSU
11 Tennessee
12 Georgia Tech
13 Notre Dame
14 Oklahoma
15 BYU
16 Missouri
17 Vanderbilt
18 Virginia
19 South Florida
20 USC
21 Texas
22 Memphis
23 Utah
24 Cincinnati
25 Nebraska
You can’t help but wonder, in the Big Ten the home team will get the referee calls as well as the game time start preference. I would hate to find out there is a gentleman’s agreement behind closed doors giving the home team in front of the home crowd every benefit possible outside of it looking too obvious. Being the visiting team, you better not only be good but play as perfect a game so the ref’s can’t nail you with a bad calls. I was expecting a lot more from the Michigan team than what I saw yesterday. Just… Read more »
It was too good to be true. USC was more physical than Michigan and Michigan is a physical team. I think USC just played a cleaner game and the refs let them play. In 4 Big10 games USC has been called for 30 penalties, opponents 19. When at home USC has 13 as visitor 17. SC’s opponents have 10 penalties at home and 9 on the road. So looks pretty even in the Big10 home or away as far as officiating.
James Franklin shown the door?!
Yep…….he gone.
and they have to pay him 50 million to say goodbye.
Unbelievable.
Week 4 his team was ranked #2.
Week 8 he’s fired.
Probably no one has ever lost to UCLA and Northwestern back to back.
I guess if you have 106,500 seats in the middle of nowhere and are spending 700 million to renovate the place…..you better make sure you have a coach that can fill those seats. Imagine a whiteout with 1/3 attendance. He just could not win the big ones. I wonder who they will go after to get it done.
USC is now number 20, Indiana is number 3….it’s highest ever, Nebraska is 25.
ND is 13, Oregon is 8.
For the past 2 weeks I thinking/hoping that for whatever reason(s) (not the same as excuses) the Illinois game was a one off bad day. That appears to be true. USC ran the ball for 224 yds against the #7 rushing defense that gave up on average 77. USC held the #13 rushing offense to 109 yds that had averaged 237. This was without 2 starting OL and the top 2 RBs. Riley ran the ball 36 times and passed 32. He’s using TEs with stunning effect. Who was that guy coaching last season? Can we keep this officiating crew… Read more »
Unranked and under-the-gun USC finally wins one big game at the Coliseum and now you’ve got them suddenly able to beat any team in the country. 🤔
Why not include UCLA? They just beat MICH ST much worse than USC did and they did it in East Lansing.
I guess the Bruins should be in the top 10! Go Jerry Neuheisel!
Correction, any team left on their schedule, including UCLA. The excitement will wear off the Ruins. Indiana, Nebraska and Ohio St will take care of that. Go Jerry Neuheisel?! I got fresh bar of Dove soap you can suck on! 😉
There’s always a way to beat SC….just take up the Illinois slogan…..”if you can’t beat them, poison them”!!!
😂