A lot of speculation is on the table for Sherrone Moore and No. 18 Michigan ahead of their matchup against No. 11 USC. The Wolverines may be 2-1 going into the season now but their Week 2 loss to Texas raised eyebrows on their credibility as a national champion. 

The Texas blowout not only ended Michigan’s 29-game winning streak, but it also raised concerns on Sherrone Moore’s program as they trailed 24-3 at halftime. The Wolverines’ defense underperformed despite having former NFL DC Wink Martindale as their new DC. With this sobering loss, their next matchup against an unbeaten ranked program is tinged with uncertainty as exposed by a college football insider. 

On September 19, CFB Insider Bruce Feldman joined The Rich Eisen Show to expose his thoughts about the upcoming USC vs Michigan clash. He first sparked concerns about Sherrone Moore’s Michigan in the way they lost against Texas 31-12 in Week 2. Pointing out the Wolverines’ poor defense, Feldman also added, “Michigan offense is not great… I think they’re going to smash Michigan because they’re way more loaded.”

Bruce Feldman backed his statement by throwing light on USC’s Miller Moss as a “good” and “accurate” QB. He completed 48 of 66 passes in their two wins this season racking up a total of 607 yards and two touchdowns. While he only rated their offensive line as just “okay,”, the Trojans have some big-time WRs like Kyron Hudson and Ja’Kobi Lane who could be elusive to Michigan defenders.

Feldman also added, “Lincoln’a a terrific schemer and good at drawing stuff up and exploiting things… Unless Michigan just absolutely terrorized Miller Moss and gets four or five sacks, I just don’t see Michigan have a better chance to beat them.” USC will enter Saturday’s game as a 5.5-point favorite over the national champions. 

Can Michigan pull an upset over USC? 

The upcoming USC vs Michigan game at Michigan will mark the first time the two big programs are meeting again since 2007. Fast forward to 2024, the result is expected to emulate their last meeting’s outcome where USC won 32-18. This season, the Trojans played two games and won both in a 27-20 and 48-0 thriller over LSU and Utah State, respectively. On offense, the team is averaging 495.5 yards per game and 336.5 yards in the air. On defense, they’ve allowed an average of 305.5 yards per game. 

As for Michigan, they averaged 329.3 yards per game and 153 yards in the air. On defense, they allowed 304.3 yards per game. But the next game could be a different one from the three games that former walk-on QB Davis Warren started. For Week 4, transfer QB Alex Orji will be calling the plays but can it save them from chaos? Fingers are crossed as we carry out speculations into Saturday’s game between the Trojans and Wolverines. 

While we wait for the game to kick off, why not peep into some insightful information that Doug Sanders revealed on our exclusive Think Tank podcast?