Reality smacked USC football fans in the face on Saturday afternoon. Seeing their team lose to Michigan 27-24 on the road, Trojans around the nation went from believing that their team was a contender for the College Football Playoff to wondering if it has the physicality and gumption to challenge for a Big Ten title game spot.
On the positive side, USC did rally in the second half to take the lead late in the fourth quarter following a putrid first-half performance. That did show that the Trojans were unwilling to give in after being thoroughly dominated for two quarters, which is a sign of a determined squad.
However, USC isn't a program that should be satisfied with moral victories. What's more, it's tough to call what happened on Saturday a "moral victory" in the first place.
In this game, USC had talent advantages at critical spots such as quarterback and wide receiver. Those edges should have been significant enough to push a suspect Michigan team with a one-dimensional offense to the breaking point.
Ultimately, though, USC was exposed in the trenches on both sides of the football. The Trojans were physically bullied at the line of scrimmage and the flaws that Michigan exposed are going to be concerns moving forward until we see this team correct them against another top-flight opponent.
As you might expect, the passionate USC football fan base didn't respond well to this loss. And to vent their frustrations, Trojans everywhere took to social media to roast everyone from the officials to head coach Lincoln Riley. Naturally, many of the posts were humorous while others were more passionate. Let's look at the best posts from USC fans following the loss to Michigan.
Lincoln Riley is who OU fans told me he was 😭
— Marciano (@PlzCallMeMarcy) September 21, 2024
Absolutely embarrassing. Didn’t come out with nearly the physical intensity or mentality needed to win in the Big 10. And this Michigan team are horrible. We let them run all over us, horrible play calling, time management, dropped passes. We didn’t look up to the moment.
— 優木 せつ菜 🇯🇵 | Makeine SZN (@Nljigakulive) September 21, 2024
John Humphreys tackle attempt keeps replaying in my mind pic.twitter.com/pHGfW8yERx
— The Trojan Blade (@TheTrojanBlade) September 22, 2024
Lincoln Riley’s playcalling and time management lost this game for USC.
— LA (@LASportsFanatic) September 21, 2024
Hey Gary… those ain’t “blocks” pic.twitter.com/1TQRDYZnx6
— USC Hippie (@USCHippie) September 21, 2024
Perhaps a necessary loss. We are clearly the better team. We played one half of football and couldn’t close. Feels like this team will learn from it.
— Jake Olson (@JakeOlson61) September 21, 2024
maize and blue is black and white? https://t.co/CRK4NnukeS
— Arrogant Nation✌🏻 (@FightOnRusty) September 21, 2024
We did everything we possibly could to lose this game, on top of the refs refusing to call blatant penalties on Michigan, and very costly missed tackles at the absolute worst times. It hurts to lose a game, but it fckin sucks to just give a game away. USC moves to 2-1 #FightOn
— Su’a (@iammsuzy) September 21, 2024
USC fans when USC hands it off pic.twitter.com/dj2K4ojeaA
— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) September 21, 2024
Bottom line: #USC did not block, tackle or play-call well enough to win this one.
— R.J. Abeytia (@RJ_Abeytia) September 21, 2024
Michigan MVP pic.twitter.com/ruA1OsHzDg
— USC Football 4 Life (@usc_4) September 22, 2024