Takeaways: Michigan football's strength turns to weakness in loss to USC

The Wolverines falter for the second time this season.

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Michigan entered Los Angeles with a ton of confidence -- maybe too much -- and left with a loss. Too many mistakes on both sides of the ball and the loss of Justice Haynes in the second quarter resulted in a 31-13 loss to the Trojans. The Wolverines dropped to 4-2 on the season and they head back to Ann Arbor in hopes of correcting plenty of errors.

Following the Wolverines' loss, here are some takeaways.

What Michigan prides itself of was its downfall

Michigan has struggled on both sides of the football in the opening two quarters against higher competition this season, but the Wolverines have been able to go into the locker room and make sound adjustments -- especially on the defensive side. But not on Saturday.

If the Wolverines made any adjustments, it wasn't apparent. USC continued to gash Michigan up the middle, throw quick screens to its playmakers, and do the small things right -- because Michigan couldn't defend it. This was the worst showing the Wolverines had on the defensive side of the ball this season, and the Oklahoma game was pretty bad.

To make matters worse, the Trojans should have had more points on the ball, but Jyaire Hill forced a fumble and Zeke Berry caught a Jayden Maiava INT in the red zone. It's back to the drawing board for Wink Martindale against electric offenses -- starting next week against Washington.

Opening drive struggles continue for the defense

For whatever reason, the scripted drives have hurt the Wolverines in the past three games. Nebraska went down the field, but turned the ball over on downs in the red zone, then Wisconsin marched the ball down the field for a touchdown last weekend, and on Saturday, USC did the same. Jayden Maiava found his playmakers and Waymond Jordan made some nice runs. Michigan gave up way to many yards of cushion against USC and it made the Wolverines pay.

Not sure why this is the trend for Michigan, but the Wolverines need to figure something out early defensively.

Way too many missed tackles

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Another worrisome trend for the Michigan defense is its inability to tackle consistently. Michigan has some really good players on its defense, but the Wolverines lack some key fundamentals. It's like the wide receivers' struggles to catch the football -- it's tackling for the defense. There are way too many open-field missed tackles from the Wolverines' defense and you can point to several in every game this season.

In the first half against USC, there were at least six missed tackles that I can recall, and that's not winning football. It wasn't much better in the final 20 minutes. The most memorable sequence was when USC had a third-and-26, and the Trojans ran a counter to the left, and a couple of Wolverines had hands on the ball carrier, but USC ran for a first down.

Freshman mistakes haunt Bryce Underwood

The five-star QB has handled things mostly well through the first five games, but a pair of mistakes in the sixth game did Michigan no favors. On the second drive of the game, Michigan had a disastrous sequence of plays. Giovanni El-Hadi whiffed on a block for a Justice Haynes' loss of yards, Marlin Klein would get a false start, and then Bryce Underwood took an 11-yard sack. With the sack, it pushed Michigan out of field goal range, and the Wolverines were nearly in the red zone.

Then down 21-7, the Wolverines were driving following a Zeke Berry interception. Underwood made a few really nice throws to get Michigan inside the red zone, but he forced a third-down play in the direction of Donaven McCulley -- who might've been held -- overthrew him and USC came down with an INT.

Underwood has done well under pressure this season, but he wasn't as sharp on Saturday against the Trojans and two mistakes kept potential scores off the board.

Despite all the negatives, Michigan still controls its own destiny -- with an emerging star

It's clear Michigan has plenty to clean up and it starts with fundamentals -- the coaching staff has to prove they can get the job done. But at the end of the day, the Wolverines still control what happens to them from here on out. Two losses mean Michigan cannot lose another game here on out if it wants to reach the College Football Playoff.

But if Michigan can find a way to clean things up and win out, including a massive win over Ohio State to end the season, the Wolverines would be right in the mix of getting into the Big Ten Championship Game and the CFP. It all starts next Saturday at home against Washington.

Freshman Andrew Marsh continues to turn heads since earning the starting nod last weekend against Wisconsin. He proved to be Bryce Underwood's top option this week and he excelled. Marsh caught eight passes for 138 yards and a score, and the freshman/freshman duo will be strong for the next few seasons.

More From Michigan On SI:

• Star Michigan football player leaves game vs. USC
• Michigan football gets starter back vs. USC, Trojans down at least one starter