USC football, in a hotly contested ranked battle against the Michigan Wolverines, experienced a scare when wide receiver Makai Lemon went down on a punt on what appeared to be a blindside block that did not result in a penalty. Lemon stayed down for several minutes before walking off the field with most of his USC Trojans teammates in tow.

Later, an ambulance removed Makai Lemon from the stadium, and he will not return to the game, according to Pete Nakos of On3. His injury status is not yet known.

USC football falling behind early against the Wolverines

The Wolverines have an early 14-3 lead heading into halftime. Michigan has dominated on the ground with their one-two-three punch of Donovan Edwards, Kalel Mullings and Alex Orji.

The trio has combined for 26 carries, 184 yards and two touchdowns. Without their leading pass-catcher tight end Colston Loveland, the Wolverines are leaning hard on their physicality to dominate the Trojans' run defense.

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USC football has found ways to move the football. The dynamic wide receiver Zachariah Branch, great nephew to Oakland Raiders legend Cliff Branch, has already caught four passes for 85 yards.

But the Trojans were off to a slow start, beginning the game with three-straight three-and-outs and a fourth drive that stalled out after four plays and 11 yards. On their fifth drive, the Trojans gained 64 yards on eight plays and took the ball to the Michigan 11-yard line. Unfortunately, they settled for a Michael Lantz 29-yard field goal.

Just before halftime, the Trojans drove the ball to the Michigan 39 after starting the drive on their own four-yard line with 1:25 left in the second quarter. USC was unable to convert that drive into any points.

USC has -16 rushing yards as Miller Moss has taken two big sacks and running back Woody Marks has made no impact with six carries and only five yards.