Michigan, held to 32 yards passing, goes run-heavy to top USC - ESPN

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan kept pounding the ball and pounding the ball. And when it mattered most, No. 11 USC couldn't stop it.

Powered by running back Kalel Mullings, who scored the winning touchdown in the final seconds, the defending national champion Wolverines rumbled to a 27-24 victory in their Big Ten opener Saturday.

«That's a representation of who we are,» Mullings said of Michigan's run-heavy game plan. «Just grit and grinding up… grinding meat that whole time.»

The Wolverines rushed for 290 yards, including 79 on the final drive. Mullings got all eight carries and broke through a pair of tackles for a 63-yard run that put Michigan in the red zone. He finished off the drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge on fourth-and-goal with 37 seconds remaining.

«A will to not give in,» Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said of his senior back. «A will to want it more than them. To want it more than the man who's trying to tackle him.»

The No. 18 Wolverines (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) prevailed despite passing for only 32 yards, their fewest in a game since 1987, according to ESPN Research. Michigan's 32 yards through the air were the fewest by any FBS team in a win over a top-15 opponent since 2014, when Florida beat Georgia with 27 rushing yards.

«Love it,» said Moore, a former college offensive lineman at Oklahoma. «You want to throw the ball, but when you can run the ball effectively, you bring [the defense] down.»

Mullings finished with a career-high 159 yards on 17 rushes, scoring another touchdown in the first quarter with a 53-yard dash through the middle of the USC defense.

Donovan Edwards added 74 yards on the ground, including a 41-yard touchdown run. But his fumble in the fourth quarter gave USC (2-1, 0-1) the ball deep in