Walk-on King Miller steps up to propel football over Michigan
The No. 20 Trojans launched themselves back into playoff contention with the 31-13 win.
By SEAN CAMPBELL
Coming into Saturday’s season-defining matchup against then-No. 15 Michigan, redshirt freshman walk-on running back King Miller hadn’t taken an in-game rush in nearly a month as USC’s No. 3 option. Sophomore running back Bryan Jackson, USC’s fourth option, meanwhile, was listed as out for the game on the Big Ten’s availability report in a recovery effort from turf toe.
But, as the lights dimmed on the sold-out Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, No. 20 USC (5-1, 3-1 Big Ten) went home with a statement 31-13 win, in large part thanks to the second-half efforts of Miller and Jackson, who both scored late in Saturday’s game. The victory marked the Trojans’ first against a ranked team this season and launched them back into College Football Playoff contention.
“USC, man, that’s a little kid’s dream,” said Miller, who is still in search of a scholarship after having four runs of at least 40 yards this season for a total of 310, along with three touchdowns. “[Saturday’s game] was honestly just a dream come true.”
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Running back room shows depth
Miller, in particular, took control of the game with more consistent touches in the third quarter. The freshman went for two runs of 40 or more yards, including one for a first down on third-and-26, contributing to his 158-yard total on 18 touches for a stellar 8.8-yard average. Miller’s performance earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Monday, becoming the first Trojan to win the award since USC’s move from the Pacific-12 in 2024.
After the game, Miller said he received scholarship offers out of high school from other programs, but stuck with USC because it was his “dream school.” During a Trojans Live broadcast on Monday, Head Coach Lincoln Riley said he hoped Miller wouldn’t remain a walk-on “for long.”
“King was huge,” Riley said in a postgame news conference. “It’s just what he does in practice. He’s a hard worker. He’s a humble guy. He cares about this team a lot. And honestly, hell, we didn’t have anybody else, so what was I going to do?”
Junior starting running back Waymond Jordan wasn’t having his most efficient performance of the season when he left the game with an ankle injury in the second quarter after rushing for 39 yards on 11 attempts. However, Jordan had multiple gritty runs in short-yardage situations to help the Trojans to an early lead against the Wolverines (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten).
But the ankle injury to Jordan, whose 576 rushing yards rank third in the Big Ten, will reportedly sideline him for 4-6 weeks, both CBS and On3 reported Sunday.
Junior running back Waymond Jordan, who ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing yards, is set to miss significant time after suffering an ankle injury against Michigan. (Matthew Diederich / Daily Trojan)
Redshirt senior running back Eli Sanders, who had been a consistent No. 2 option for USC through five games, went down with a knee injury after just one touch on Saturday. He had 264 yards on 47 rushes with two touchdowns heading into the matchup with Michigan, but Riley said it doesn’t seem likely Sanders will be able to return this season.
“We’ll get confirmation on it, but it doesn’t look positive,” Riley said of Sanders’ injury.
After the game, Riley called ruling Jackson out a “wellness issue” and said he had been cleared to take limited reps at practice for weeks before the game. In Jackson’s first in-game playtime since USC’s week one win over Missouri State University (3-3, 1-1 Conference USA), he rushed for 35 yards on five attempts, including a 29-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to push the Trojans to 31 points and all but seal the win.
“There was the expectation coming in this game that outside of just a near catastrophe, that we weren’t going to play him,” Riley said. “The kid was ready to go and stepped up, but that’s what you got to have, man. You’ve got to have tough guys that play through stuff if you want to win at this level.”
After USC’s last-minute, 34-32 loss to Illinois (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) on Sept. 27, Riley said the Trojans were “not a very healthy football team,” especially on the offensive line, and would need to recover over the bye week. While multiple key pieces were still out on Saturday, the Trojans didn’t miss a beat.
In last year’s 27-24 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines accrued four sacks and eight tackles for loss. But this time, despite injuries to USC’s offensive line, the Wolverines didn’t sack redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava once and allowed 224 rushing yards — the most Michigan has given up in a game since 2022.
“It says we’re a tough-ass physical program,” Riley said of his offensive line’s performance. “I don’t think many offensive lines in the country would’ve been able to do that minus three [presumed preseason] starters.”
Maiava-Lemon connection continues dominance
In his first full game back from an injury since USC’s 33-17 win over Purdue on Sept. 13, junior wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane hauled in five catches for 35 yards, including a touchdown on the Trojans’ first drive of the game to give them an early 7-0 lead. However, it was, once again, junior wide receiver Makai Lemon who stole the show in the passing game.
Following a costly first-quarter fumble from redshirt senior tight end Lake McRee and an improvement in Wolverine freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood’s play after a rough start, USC’s lead had vanished for the only time all game at 7-7 with about three minutes left in the half.
A stellar drive, led by two massive connections between Maiava and Lemon, including a 12-yard touchdown with a defender in Lemon’s face, put USC up 14-7 at halftime with a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Redshirt junior quarterback Jayden Maiava leads the Big Ten with 1,852 passing yards, 265 of which came against Michigan on Saturday. (Matthew Diederich / Daily Trojan)
“Jayden put it in a perfect spot, I went up there and made the play,” Lemon said of his catch. “[I took] many reps of that in practice, just had to come out here and execute.”
Maiava, who leads the conference in passing yards with 1,852, had another efficient performance against the Wolverines, completing 25-of-32 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns.
Bishop Fitzgerald does it again
A well-overthrown floater intended for Lemon in the third quarter nearly spoiled an excellent outing for Maiava, halting a red-zone drive and giving Michigan the ball back with momentum only down by two scores. However, after Underwood led an impressive drive down the field, redshirt senior safety Bishop Fitzgerald returned the favor by picking off an Underwood pass deep in USC territory.
Fitzgerald continued his impressive season by picking up a second interception in garbage time, his fifth on the season — tied for the most by a Trojan defender since 2003 — and adding a big-time third-down sack that pushed Michigan back 11 yards to shut down a promising second-quarter drive. But after the game, Fitzgerald attributed Underwood’s mistakes that allowed for his picks to strong play from the defensive line.
“Got [Underwood] to third-and-long. As a young quarterback, we wanted to show him some exotic looks and make him throw some tough passes, tight windows,” Fitzgerald said of the play that led to his first interception of the game in an on-field interview with USC Athletics. “That was just a result of our D-line.”
While the rest of the season doesn’t get any easier for USC, the ranked win paves a path for the Trojans’ CFP debut should they win out or lose one close contest. Notably, USC will face off against No. 8 Oregon (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten), No. 13 Notre Dame (4-2) and No. 25 Nebraska (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) all on the road. More than two losses would all but eliminate the Trojans, but winning out would almost assuredly secure them a bid.
“When you play our schedule, there’s not too much time to celebrate,” Riley said. “We know we got another big football game coming up, and we’ll be excited to go back and prepare the way that we did this week.”
Next up for the Trojans is a trip to South Bend, Indiana, for the 95th iteration of their historic matchup with Notre Dame in what will be a major test of USC’s playoff chances. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium.
