The USC football team made waves throughout college football on Saturday. USC took down Michigan, by a 31-13 score. The Trojans rolled up 489 total yards of offense in the game, against a solid Michigan defense.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley is known for offense. It appears that he has a very good one this season. USC is 5-1 overall, and 3-1 in the Big Ten conference. Only Indiana and Ohio State have better conference records right now in the Big Ten than Riley's team.
“We really were looking forward to this game, (and) I thought we attacked it, dominated the football game on all sides,” Riley said, per the Associated Press. “A gritty, tough performance. You could just feel it with the group.”
Following the win over Michigan, USC football finds themselves back in the Associated Press Top 25 College Football poll. The Trojans are no. 20 in the nation, per the latest poll.
There is a growing buzz in southern California that this squad might just be Riley's best to date at the school. Here are some reasons to believe that is true.
USC football is finding all sorts of answers at running back
The USC football team is actually banged up at running back right now. There are several players out injured, and the team had to trot out walk-on King Miller for their game Saturday against Michigan. This season, Miller had just 11 total carries before the Michigan game.
Miller looked solid in a win to open the season over Missouri State. In that contest, he posted 80 rushing yards. Against Michigan though, Miller ran wild.
The USC running back finished the contest with 158 rushing yards and a touchdown, on just 18 carries. When a tailback near the bottom of the depth chart is putting up these kinds of numbers, you know a team has hit gold.
“It was all honestly just a dream come true,” Miller said. “The whole (running back) group is amazing, so no matter who you put in there, we always believe we can go out there and shock the world.”
USC will be able to work Miller more in the weeks ahead, until the team can get another back or two back onto the field. The Trojans though clearly have plenty of options to go with moving forward in the running game.
It is also safe to say Miller will likely be put on scholarship very soon. His impact on the USC offense has been tremendous, and he is just a freshman.
USC football's defense is better than it has been
During his tenure in southern California, Riley's defense has struggled. There is evidence to show that trend turning back in the right direction.
Against Michigan, USC allowed just 316 total yards. The Trojans also forced two turnovers, but the most glaring stat is in third down efficiency. Michigan went just 2-for-9 in the game on third down conversion attempts.
USC has been able to hold nearly all of their opponents this season to under 50 percent in third down efficiency. When it wasn't able to do that, it made up for it by forcing turnovers. Against Purdue for instance, the Boilermakers threw three interceptions in the game. USC went on to win that contest by a 33-17 score.
An exception came against Illinois. In USC's lone loss this season, the Fighting Illini posted 502 yards of total offense. Illinois also converted 6 of their 10 third down conversion attempts.
Third down efficiency is a stat to pay close attention to in the weeks ahead, for USC. If the Trojans can continue to control that category, USC will be able to stay near the top of the Big Ten standings.
USC has some difficult games still left on the schedule. The Trojans have to go to Notre Dame, as well as Nebraska and Oregon. The Trojans take on Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday. It has been 14 years since USC won in South Bend.
Time will tell if this Trojans squad is a true contender, but there is certainly reason to believe.
