Rapid Reactions to USC's heartbreaking loss to Michigan

Saturday afternoon, USC played an unexpectedly poor game at Michigan. In the first Big Ten game in program history, head coach Lincoln Riley's team didn't look like the team that we had seen in the first two weeks of the season. That's because USC was physically bullied on both sides of the ball for the first time this year.

Many will say that this loss should humble the Trojans as they experienced their first taste of life in their new league, one that is known for producing smashmouth football. However, others will say that USC let a winnable game get away.

“We came up one play short,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said.

Certainly, the Trojans did have a chance to slam the door shut by making a fourth down stop at the goal line in the final minute and they couldn't make the play. However, this game wasn't lost on that one play alone. Let's go inside the box score for some rapid reactions to the season's first setback.

USC didn't have as big of a QB advantage as most expected

Leading up to this game, almost everyone thought that USC's Miller Moss would be far and away the best QB in the stadium. While he was better than his counterpart, he wasn't good enough to carry his team to a win.

Moss finished the day just 28 of 51 passing (54.9%). While he did have three TD passes, he also had an inexcusable pick-six, a play that helped doom his team.

To win this game, Moss needed to be better. He needed to exploit a Michigan defense that entered the country ranked 90th overall against the pass by giving up 234.3 yards per game through the air.

He couldn't do that. Moss looked rattled in his first career road start and his lack of athleticism was apparent as he was unable to avoid the relentless Wolverine pass rush. While he did throw for 250 more yards than Michigan's QB, Alex Orji, did, he couldn't carry his team to a win.

USC was dominated at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball

This game was lost at the line of scrimmage. USC just couldn't match the Michigan physicality on either side of the football.

The offensive line got almost no push in the run game as the Trojans ran for only 96 total yards. Yes, Woody Marks got to the 100-yard mark but much of that came on a handful of big plays. The rest of the time, the Trojans couldn't move the talented and large U of M defensive line off of the ball.

What's more, the line was exposed when trying to protect Moss. Michigan racked up four sacks and eight tackles for loss while laying several other huge hits on the USC QB. The revamped Trojan offensive line was a question heading into the season and in this game, it was a true weakness.

Unfortunately, the USC defensive line wasn't any better. Facing a rugged O-line, USC gave up 290 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

That was shocking considering the fact that everyone knew Michigan was going to run the ball all day with their change at QB and the absence of their leading receiver on the season. USC knew exactly what Michigan was going to do and in the end, the Trojans could do nothing to stop it. On a day when Michigan threw the ball only 12 times, the USC defense had its manhood challenged and it couldn't answer the call. That's a huge concern moving forward.

Lincoln Riley's reputation takes a hit

With all the offseason talk about whether or not Lincoln Riley is an elite head coach, this season is as much about his reputation as it is about USC as a football program. Today, his status took a huge hit.

Everything was laid out for Riley's team to win a road game against a ranked team. Michigan went with a QB who is an inept passer and was without starting tight end and leading receiver Colston Loveland. Head coach Sherrone Moore's program was taking on water after three unimpressive performances to begin the season and the setting was right for a USC win.

But in this game, the first-year Michigan head coach had his team more prepared than Riley had USC. Moore's coaching staff also had a better game plan than Riley's staff did.

These are the types of games that Riley keeps losing at USC. He drops to just 2-8 against ranked opponents with the Trojans and that's not what was expected of him when he was hired away from Oklahoma.