Michigan 27, USC 24: Heavy mettle
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Michigan’s not going to win any awards for putting together the most aesthetically pleasing wins in college football. That applies to Saturday’s game and almost certainly extends to the rest of the season, too. But I always have a philosophy that you should never apologize for winning. And if that’s my mantra in general, it sure as hell is going to be the case after beating the No. 11 team in America — a team just about nobody gave Michigan a chance of beating (*ahem…I did say, just about nobody*).
The first half of Michigan’s 27-24 win over USC showed a roadmap that could make Michigan a pretty damn competitive team this fall. It was a defensive masterclass, particularly up front. It showed some improvements along the offensive line. It showed precision in special teams. And it showed the ability to break off a couple of big plays on offense.
The second half? Well … that was also a half of football. And it was a major step down pretty much across the board for a Wolverine team that had to endure playing 80-plus defensive snaps. And, more difficultly, a Wolverine team that also had to endure running an offense that doesn’t currently feature this novel thing called a “forward pass” as part of its arsenal.
But all warts aside, when the clock was ticking down and not only the game, but essentially Michigan’s season was on the line, this team showed its mettle. It showed the culture and grit that led Michigan to 40 wins over the last three seasons. It showed what turned this from a really good football program back to being a Championship program.
And now Michigan is right back in the mix for yet another trip to the College Football Playoff, vaulting six spots up the AP poll into the No. 12 spot in a year where the playoff extends to 12 teams. Michigan likely will go through the entire month of October without being an underdog. And while so much of Saturday’s game presented us reasons why you certainly shouldn’t chalk those up as automatic wins for the Wolverines, the path back to a fourth straight CFP berth that would have essentially been closed with a loss to USC is still very much still open.
Below the paywall jump, I’ll dig deeper into what we saw on Saturday — both good and bad — and what it means going forward for the defending National Champion Wolverines.
Let’s dig in.
