The USC Trojans were popping earlier in the 2024 college football season with a majestic first week 27-20 win over LSU followed by an incredible 48-0 victory over Utah State right before a flopping 27-24 defeat in the week four game against the Michigan Wolverines. After this, USC has become the target of trolls, critics, fans, and haters who are gossiping about their poor offense. “I don’t want to pass a lot of judgment until I can sit there and study it. I know these guys battled.” These were Lincoln Riley‘s words after the game, as he chose to reevaluate the game before saying something. And now he has the answer for what went wrong on Saturday that resulted in a heartbreaking loss.

Wolverines have one of the best defensive units in the country, and that could be the reason it highlighted the flows in USC’s offensive line throughout the game. “There were a couple of points where we lost some of the trust in what we were doing and tried to do some of our things. Sometimes that can make it worse,” said Lincoln Riley in an ‘X’ post shared by a sports journalist shotgun Spratling. Given Riley’s statement, it looks like they tried some new strategies for the game against Michigan, which failed miserably.

The Michigan offensive and defensive lines took charge of the game from the beginning till the end of it; that’s one reason they won this matchup. Michigan entered the game led by Kalel Mullings, who ran for 159 yards, scored two touchdowns, and carried the ball 17 times. Added with Alex Orji’s contributions. However, USC could not handle Michigan’s offense and failed to stop them.

The Trojans’s offense granted an easy 24-20 lead with 4 minutes left at the Wolverine’s 11-yard line. On top of that, Mullings took away a 63-yard run from the Trojans’ defense on third down, placing Michigan in the red zone. Although the Trojans worked on their offensive line through the offseason, they could not meet the standard of Michigan’s rushing attack. Everything points at a vulnerable offense of the Trojans, which would not have happened this far in the season.

The game against Michigan turned out to be a “welcome to the Big Ten” moment for the USC Trojans, for sure. Besides, let’s learn what Miller Moss had to say about this.

Miller Moss on USC’s poor offensive line

USC Trojans quarterback Miller Moss got a reality check after this crucial game. Throughout the game, it was clear that Miller Moss faced constant pressure on most of the dropbacks, causing him to struggle to find a rhythm. He was sacked four times and hit ten times. After he threw a pick-six, Michigan found a 20-10 lead in the third quarter, and when he finally fought back, it was already too late in the game. In total, he threw 28 of 51 passes for 283 yards, along with scoring three touchdowns and one interception.

After facing a disappointing loss, Miller Moss said, “Defense played their a** off. We didn’t help them out in the first half; we gotta be better, especially me.” It’s cool he’s taking responsibility for his flaws, but it would be better if he learned something from their loss and implemented it to their offense in USC’s upcoming games.

Furthermore, Miller Moss highlighted how they made a late move in the game: “We just didn’t settle in offensively till halfway through the second quarter. I feel like I cost our team in a big way, turning the ball over.” With that, it’ll be interesting to watch USC’s upcoming game against Wisconsin to notice what changes Moss and the whole offensive line of the Trojans have done to overcome these shortcomings.