ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Kalel Mullings’ teammates used to tease him about not looking very fast.
Mullings, a former linebacker, stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 233 pounds. If Michigan’s skill position players had lined up on the goal line and sprinted 100 yards, he probably wouldn’t have won. He came into this season in the shadow of Donovan Edwards, the star of last year’s national championship game, and wasn’t mentioned as the best running back in the Big Ten.
Late in the fourth quarter against USC, when Michigan was running out of ideas to revive its crippled offense, the Wolverines finally found something that worked. They gave the ball to Mullings, who ran through the arms of USC’s John Humphrey for 63 yards. They gave it to him again. And again. And again. With 41 seconds left on the clock, Michigan faced fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line and needed one more play to take the lead.
Hmm… what should I call it? Naked Bootleg? Philly Special? Or maybe give it another go to Mullings?
!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HMTgB8YgGI
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 21, 2024
“We all knew what was coming,” quarterback Alex Orji said.
Mullings took the handoff and sprinted into the end zone to give No. 18 Michigan a 27-24 win over the No. 11 Trojans. It was Michigan’s most unbelievable win in years, and it was a win that was sparked by a running back who was never supposed to be a No. 1 option. Now, this Michigan team is going to struggle every week, but sometimes that struggle ends in celebration.
“I think that’s who we are. We always go all the way,” Mullings said. “That whole drive, it was just tenacity.”
Before that last drive, Michigan had the ball five times in the second half without a first down. The Wolverines gained six yards in the third quarter and passed for 32 yards on the play. None of this is in the playbook for beating a top-15 opponent.
Somehow Michigan found a way. It was largely due to Mullings, who ran for 159 yards on 17 carries, his second straight game with 150 or more yards. Michigan’s offense has little to rely on, but the Wolverines have found they can rely on Mullings.
“He did everything for us,” coach Sharon Moore said.
If nothing else, Michigan’s attempt to build an entire offense with linemen, tight ends and former linebackers will be an interesting test of the Wolverines’ offensive ethos. Michigan has been a run-first team for years, but with Orji at quarterback, they’re now a run-second, run-third team as well.
What Michigan did on Saturday, beating a ranked opponent while attempting 12 passes, is likely unsustainable. At this point, the Wolverines aren’t looking for sustainability. They’re looking for something that can help them win on a given Saturday. If that means throwing the ball 40 times per game, Moore will be the happiest man on the field.
“That’s my dream,” Moore said. “Yeah, I want to throw the ball, but I feel like when I can throw the ball effectively, (the defense) gets a little weaker.”
Saturday was USC’s first conference game as a member of the Big Ten, and it delivered exactly what the Big Ten wanted when it added four teams from the West Coast: great action, great drama, and a clash of two iconic programs with contrasting styles.
Go deeper
USC let Michigan off the hook, and now the Trojans’ margin for error is thin.
Michigan’s advantage in the trenches was significant. USC’s passing game was explosive, and Michigan’s passing game was nonexistent. The game featured a huge momentum shift, including Will Johnson’s 42-yard interception return for a touchdown and Kenneth Grant’s fumble recovery, which was then carried by USC’s Woody Marks.
Michigan looked to be in deep trouble when Edwards fumbled and USC went up 24-20 midway through the fourth quarter. The offense stalled in the second half, and the change from Davis Warren to Orji at quarterback didn’t seem like a dramatic upgrade.
Warren was fairly efficient in the short-and-intermediate passing game, but he threw six interceptions in three starts. The Wolverines rarely tried to throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage with Orji, but he played turnover-free football and ran 13 times for 43 yards.
“A lot of people asked me what I wanted from my first start,” Orji said. “I wanted to get the ball safe and win, and we got that.”
Go deeper
Alex Orji is a ‘one in a million’ player. Now it’s time for him to prove he can play QB.
Despite the struggles, Michigan is 3-1, with a loss to No. 1 Texas and a win over a team that was considered a College Football Playoff contender, USC. Not bad for the first month of the season. Given how the Wolverines have fared over the past two weeks, it’s hard to believe that what they’re doing now will translate into a full season. But if Michigan can beat USC without a functional passing game, the Wolverines can beat a few other teams, too.
It won’t be easy for Michigan this season. The Wolverines will have to get used to winning ugly. There’s no great answer at quarterback, and the best hope is to trust Orji and help him somehow.
Giving the ball to Mullings is a great way to do that. No matter how good he has been, he still needs more touches. The Wolverines are a tough team to beat when Mullings breaks tackles and Michigan’s defense is flying. As USC found out when it got its first taste of Big Ten football.
Beating a team ranked 32 passing yards is something Michigan is unlikely to repeat. But success on the ground with Mullings is repeatable, and Michigan’s final drive was a perfect repeat.
“Whether you run it or throw it — (people) say you have to throw it more — we won,” Moore said. “We beat a good team. That was it for us.”
(Photo: Han Jun-fu / Imagn Images)
