USC's Lincoln Riley talks 'tremendous atmosphere,' U-M's physicality, more after loss
The Michigan fan base showed up in a big way in a 27-24 win over coach Lincoln Riley and USC, playing a key role in the victory. They were loud from the get-go, helping will the Wolverines to a critical Big Ten opening win spurred by running back Kalel Mullings.
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USC head coach Lincoln Riley praised the U-M fans while also lamenting letting a potential win slip away.
“We came up one play short,” Riley said. “We were proud of the fight of our guys. We fought our tails off, didn’t play particularly good in the first half, struggled to get much going offensively. Defensively, we had a couple of just big plays when we came out of gap. That was really kind of the story of the first half, but the guys rallied.
“… We did some really, really good things in the second half. As a football team, we had a couple opportunities to close the door and finished one play short. There was a real battle out there. Tremendous atmosphere … two good teams going at it.”
That remains to be seen, and the rest of the slate will tell the tale. But credit the Trojans for battling back in the second half, especially quarterback Miller Moss. Though he threw a pick six to Will Johnson he’d obviously like back, he withstood a first half beating that might have caused many other quarterbacks to pack it in.
Riley and his staff made some adjustments up front in the second half that helped slow the Michigan pass rush. And though the Wolverines physicality seemed to play a big part in the win, the coach wasn’t ready to concede his team got bullied a bit.
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“It was a good opponent, you know?” Riley said. “And then obviously, when you play in an atmosphere like that, there are obvious challenges. They got some momentum early defensively. I thought we made a couple of lineup changes there, and I thought we handled it there pretty well. For a while, we got to where we were moving pretty good.
“I don’t want to make a bunch of big-picture assessments without having a chance to sit there and study it. There was some … kind of back and forth. We had some times when we ran the ball really well. Sometimes we didn’t. They had a couple of big plays, and then we had a lot of times where we were stuffing them in the backfield. So, I think it was just kind of a classic back and forth fight, and sort of felt like it on the sidelines.”
Personnel changes up front helped in pass protection in the second half, allowing Moss to get more comfortable. There was no question, though, that the Michigan defensive line made it tough for him.
“So, it’s a talented front … again, challenging atmosphere,” Riley said. “It’s about as tough as it’s going to get, and so a battle, certainly, can we be better? Yes, a lot of fight that group. Again, I don’t want to pass a lot of judgment until I can sit there and study it. I know those guys battled.”
They just came up a play short in a back-and-forth game nobody there will soon forget.
