After getting back over .500, Michigan looks to earn its first top-25 win of the season against the USC Trojans. We’ve got you covered for all of the details about how to watch this pivotal on Saturday:
We’re officially a quarter of the way through the college football season and we still don’t know what kind of team the Michigan Wolverines are. That will all change this weekend as No. 18 Michigan hosts the No. 11 USC Trojans, their second top-25 opponent of the season.
A win could shoot the likelihood of a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth back into the realm of possibility. However, a loss will likely spell a season where Michigan misses its expectations by potentially a large sum. There’s no doubt this will be looked back at as the turning point of the season for the Wolverines.
Here’s how you can watch this pivotal Week 4 game:
No. 18 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 11 USC Trojans
- Day: Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024
- TV: CBS
- Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy
- Odds: USC -5 O/U: 44.5
A tale of two seasons collide in Ann Arbor. USC’s season is a little shorter than the Wolverines’, but even in the small sample size, it is ahead of schedule. Beating LSU in Week 1 and seamlessly replacing No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams with Miller Moss has been remarkable. In two games, Moss has completed 72.7 percent of his passes and thrown for 607 yards and two touchdowns.
Maybe even more astonishing is the improved defense. D’Anton Lynn came across the interstate to USC from UCLA to be the defensive coordinator and is already making a huge difference. A 48-0 shutout of Utah State may be unnoticed by many across the country, but it was the Trojan’s first shutout since 2011. For a team that allowed 34.4 points per game last year, ranking 121st in college football, that is massive.
Meanwhile, Michigan has disappointed so far in 2024. The loss of Jim Harbaugh, the entire defensive coaching staff, and several key players was overlooked by many because of the returning talent and Sherrone Moore taking head coaching responsibilities for half of last season due to Harbaugh’s suspensions. But so far he doesn’t have a reliable starting quarterback, has taken a huge step back on offensive line play, and doesn’t have as dominant of a defense as what was expected. In short, nothing has particularly gone well through the first three weeks.
The turn to Orji was a necessary one. Davis Warren was inconsistent and posed no threat in the run game while the team struggled to have big plays on the ground. If you’re going to have an inefficient quarterback, you may as well have one that can cause some excitement on the ground, and that’s the added element Orji brings.
As good as Miller Moss has been, he has never played a true road game. The Big House is a hell of a way to get acquainted to a road atmosphere, and if the Wolverines’ defense can pressure him, they’ll have a solid chance of building momentum quickly. With a quarterback who is among the most efficient in college football, that will be the key to turning this game in the Wolverines’ favor.
The pick: USC -5
Other top games in Week 4
- 8 p.m. ET – No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini vs No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers (FRIDAY)
The play: Nebraska -7.5
- 7:30 p.m. ET – No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers vs No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners
The play: O57.5
Betting Record: 4-6