USC Football Team Secures 45-31 Win Over Michigan State
Makai Lemon came screaming across the center of the field, gliding past one Michigan State defender, then another, moving as if the world around him were in slow motion.
USC’s top receiver had presumably been a top-line focus of the Spartans’ game plan — and even more so after fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane was ruled out Saturday with an injury. But here was Lemon slicing his way through Michigan State’s secondary as if no one had bothered to tell him as much, sprinting free as a deep pass soared in his direction and hit him in perfect stride.
Most of Saturday night’s 45-31 win over Michigan State felt that seamless for USC, which moved the ball with ease on offense, racking up 517 yards in the process. But in a swirl of penalties and poor discipline from its defense, USC inexplicably found itself clinging to a one-score lead in the fourth quarter.
USC receiver Makai Lemon runs the ball in the second quarter against Michigan State at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
USC’s Performance and Injuries
“We were dominating the football game,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “But our ability to separate back out, I thought, was just as impressive.”
USC mounted a 13-play drive with its back against the wall in the fourth quarter, at one point even converting a critical fourth down near midfield, before Lemon pushed the pedal to the floor. He went sprinting on a jet motion, took the handoff and flew into the end zone for a score the Spartans couldn’t counter.
“Any time the ball is in his hands, something big is about to happen,” USC quarterback Jayden Maiava said.
With Lane out, Lemon accounted for more than half of the Trojans’ passing output, as he finished with eight receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown, the vast majority of which came in the first half.
