USC has clearer picture of Big Ten work ahead after Wolverines issue stiff conference welcome to Trojans

The Trojans were about 50 inches away from a marquee victory

Michigan needed only 32 yards passing (and a pick six) to outmuscle USC 27-24. It was the exact type of game you'd expect someone like Michigan coach Sherrone Moore would love. And he did. 

"I love it," Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said postgame. "It's my dream." 

The Wolverines made a quarterback change from Davis Warren to Alex Orji during the week, but it was Kalel Mullings (159 yards, 2 TDs) and Donovan Edwards (74 yards, TD), and the offensive line in front of them, who created the headaches for the No. 11 Trojans. 

The lineage of quarterbacks developed under USC coach Lincoln Riley makes him one of the most respected offensive minds in college football, but the No. 18 Wolverines beat the Trojans in the Big House without much of a need for a traditional quarterback. Its ability to dictate the game in the trenches was in stark contrast to the Texas loss. 

Welcome to the Big Ten, USC. 

Mullings' go-ahead touchdown run was clearly coming. It comes down to a battle of execution, physicality and will. The Wolverines ran out of the old school I-formation. They flowed to the left. USC met them at the point of attack, but no one managed to get hands on Mullings as he ran headfirst into a wave of USC defenders in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. 

Last season, the Wolverines rode winning in those margins all the way to their first national championship since 1998 by building a monster in the trenches. And on Michigan's final drive Saturday, Mullings' second efforts were among the game's defining moments.

This Michigan team is diminished from its national championship predecessor, but there are certainly playmakers. They bullied the Trojans with 199 yards rushing in the first half alone; Will Johnson's historic pick six was the difference in the second half. 

USC found its legs, though: even including the final drive, the defense allowed an improved 91 yards rushing on 4.8 yards per carry in the second half. The Trojans also found some success on the ground with 8.6 yards per carry. 

This result is better than the last time USC played against a reigning national champion -- the infamous 52-6 loss to Alabama in 2016 -- but that group also went on a Rose Bowl run with the switch to QB Sam Darnold. 

This is a unique challenge. Trojans coach Lincoln Riley acknowledged that coming to the Big Ten meant revamping the program along the lines and getting bigger. And the new-look staff has brought this group to life. Until the game-clinching drive, Michigan mustered only 9 yards in the second half. 

But what a team cannot replace in an offseason is a game-winning defensive stand against the reigning national champions. USC will be better for losing this game. It now knows what it will take to win against the conference's premier programs.