ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Kalel Mullings’ teammates teased him for not looking as fast.
Mullings, a former linebacker, is 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds. If Michigan’s skill position players lined up at the goal line and ran a 100-yard dash, he probably wouldn’t win. He entered this season in the shadow of Donovan Edwards, the star of last year’s national championship game, and was not mentioned as one of the best running backs in the Big Ten.
Late in the fourth quarter against USC, with Michigan running out of ideas to revive a comatose offense, the Wolverines finally came up with something that worked. They gave the ball to Mullings, who ran through the arms of USC’s John Humphrey for a 63-yard gain. They gave it to him again. And again. And again. With 41 seconds left, Michigan faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, requiring one more play to take the lead.
Hmm… how should I call? Naked bootleg? Philly special? Or how about giving it to Mullings again?
!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HMTgB8YgGI
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 21, 2024
“We all knew what was going to happen,” quarterback Alex Orji said.
Mullings took the handoff and plowed into the end zone, giving No. 18 Michigan a 27-24 win against the No. 11 Trojans. This was Michigan’s most improbable win in years, fueled by a running back who shouldn’t have been the No. 1 option. It’s clear now that it’s going to be a battle every week for this Michigan team, but sometimes the battle ends with a celebration.
“I feel like this is a representation of who we are, always pushing hard until the end,” Mullings said. “On that ride it was just grit.”
Before that final drive, Michigan had the ball without a first down five times in the second half. The Wolverines gained 6 yards in the third quarter and had 32 passing yards for the game. None of this is in the manual for beating a top 15 opponent.
Somehow, Michigan found a way. That was largely thanks to Mullings, who ran for 159 yards on 17 carries, his second straight game of over 150 yards. Michigan’s offense has very few things it can rely on, but the Wolverines have learned they can rely on Mullings.
“He did everything for us,” coach Sherrone Moore said.
If nothing else, Michigan’s attempt to build an entire offense out of linemen, tight ends and former linebackers will be an interesting test of the Wolverines’ offensive ethos. Michigan has been a run-first team in recent years, but with Orji at quarterback, it is now also a run-second and run-third team.
What Michigan did Saturday, beating a ranked opponent while attempting 12 passes, is likely untenable. Right now, the Wolverines aren’t looking for durability. They are looking for anything that can help them win on any given Saturday. If that means passing the ball more than 40 times a game, Moore will be the happiest person in the stadium.
“That’s my dream,” Moore said. “Yes, I want to throw the ball, but if you can run the ball effectively, it brings the defense down a little bit.”
Saturday was USC’s first conference game as a member of the Big Ten. It delivered exactly what the Big Ten wanted when it added four West Coast teams: a great scene, great drama, a clash of two iconic programs with contrasting styles.
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Michigan’s advantage in the trenches was significant. USC’s passing game was explosive; Michigan’s didn’t exist. The game featured wild momentum swings, including Will Johnson’s 42-yard interception return for a touchdown and Kenneth Grant’s fumble recovery that was recovered by USC’s Woody Marks.
Michigan appeared to be in deep trouble after Edwards coughed up a fumble and USC scored to take a 24-20 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The offense faltered in the second half and the switch 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 threw six interceptions in three starts. The Wolverines barely attempted 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 few people asked what I wanted with my first start,” Orji said. “I wanted a confident victory, and we got that.”
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Despite the struggles, Michigan is 3-1 with a loss to No. 1 Texas and a win against a USC team that was considered a candidate for the College Football Playoff. That’s not a bad first month of the season. Looking at how the Wolverines have won over the last two weeks, it’s hard to feel confident that what they’re doing now will translate over a full season. But if Michigan can beat USC without a functional passing game, the Wolverines should be able to beat a few other teams as well.
Nothing will come easy for Michigan this season. The Wolverines will have to get comfortable with winning ugly. They don’t have a good answer at quarterback, and their best hope is to put their faith in Orji and help him anyway they can.
Giving the ball to Mullings is a great way to do that. As good as he is, he could use more accents. The Wolverines are a tough team to play against when Mullings is breaking tackles and the Michigan defense is flying around, as USC found out in its first taste of Big Ten football.
Beating a ranked team by 32 passing yards is not something Michigan is likely to replicate. But the success on the ground with Mullings is repeatable, and Michigan’s final drive was a perfect repeat.
“Whether you run it, whether you throw it – (people) say you need to throw it more – we won,” Moore said. “We beat a good team. For us, that was what it was all about.”
(Photo: Junfu Han / Imagn Images)