Los Angeles, CA- USC freshman walk-on running back King Miller rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown to lead the Trojans to a 31-13 win over No. 15 Michigan Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“Awesome win. Tough response by our football team,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I’m proud of them and the way the guys handled the bye week. We were really looking forward to this game. I thought we attacked it and dominated the football game on all sides.”
Miller led the Trojans in rushing with 158 yards. It was his first time leading USC in rushing yards since the first game of the 2025 season when USC defeated Missouri State 73-13. Miller’s 158 yards are believed to be the most rushing yards by a walk-on since at least the early 1970’s.
“Yeah, King was huge. He played, stepped up, made big plays and was obviously really important for us with the way that it went down,” Riley said. “We’ll get confirmation [on injuries]. Eli’s doesn’t look super positive in terms of the rest of the season, so we’ll get confirmation, but it doesn’t look positive. Waymond wasn’t able to come back in tonight so we will continue to evaluate him and see where he’s at.”
USC took an early 7-0 lead on the opening drive with a touchdown pass from Jayden Maiava to Ja’kobi Lane from two yards out. The Trojans took a 14-7 lead into halftime when Makai Lemon made a tough 12-yard touchdown catch at the end of the second quarter.
Maiava had 265 passing yards and two touchdowns, marking the fifth time in six games Maiava has had at least 200 yards and two touchdowns.
King Miller took over at running back after Waymond Jordan was injured in the first half. Miller gave USC a 21-7 lead in the third quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run.
USC added a field goal before Michigan’s quarterback Bryce Underwood hit Andrew Marsh for a 60-yard touchdown to cut the USC lead. The Trojans answered with a 29-yard touchdown run from Bryan Jackson to extend the lead 31-13 with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter.
Up next for USC is a road game against rival Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 18.