– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN — It had all the pageantry and looks of the Rose Bowl, but this USC-Michigan marked a new era for the on-again, off-again rivals: the first game between the two schools as conference opponents. And similar to legendary games of the past in the shadows of Hollywood, today’s game was another thriller, with the old guard holding off the new blood out in the Midwest.
Running back Kalel Mullings scored a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 37 seconds remaining to lift No. 18 Michigan to a 27-24 victory over No. 11 USC inside Michigan Stadium, the first conference game for the Trojans as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
The defending national champions, who were humbled a couple of weeks back in a resounding home defeat to now No. 1 Texas, almost let a marquee win slip from their hands but recovered just in time after losing a 14-3 halftime lead. Mullings’ last-minute score came soon after he broke off a 63-yard run earlier in the drive to jumpstart a Wolverines offense that struggled once again to move the ball through the air.
Mullings, a former linebacker at Michigan, had a career-high 159 yards rushing, including a 53-yard scoring run to put the Wolverines ahead early. Donovan Edwards had a 41-yard run midway through the second quarter to give the Wolverines a 14-0 advantage.
USC quarterback Miller Miss threw a nine-yard toucuhdown pass to Duce Robinson to cut the Wolverines’ lead to 14-10 early in the third, and then on the Trojans’ next possession, Moss threw another score — a pick-six taken in by Will Johnson, who returned the interception 42 yards for a 20-10 Michigan lead. (The extra point was blocked.)
Moss recovered to throw touchdowns on the Trojans’ next two drives that have them their first lead. A 16-yard touchdown pass to Jay Fair with under two minutes to go in the period brought USC within three at 20-17 before Mosss’ third touchdown pass, to Ja’Kobi Lane from 24 yards out with 7:01 left in the fourth, gave the Trojans the lead. That last score came after Edwards’ fumble deep in Michigan territory gave USC the ball at the Wolverines 18-yard line.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are XX pictures in total.
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