Kalel Mullings surged 2 yards for a touchdown run on fourth down with 37 seconds left, lifting No. 18 Michigan to a 27-24 win over No. 11 Southern California on Saturday, welcoming the Trojans to the Big Ten with a heavy dose of smashmouth football.

The Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) overcame losing a 14-0 lead in the first half and coughing up two fumbles in the second half. They won with a 10-play, 89-yard TD drive, with Mullings doing most of the work.

He capped it with his second touchdown of the game, this one running behind a fullback in a jumbo package that left little doubt where the ball was going.

!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HMTgB8YgGI

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 21, 2024

The Trojans (2-1, 0-1) went ahead 24-20 midway through the fourth when Miller Moss threw his third touchdown pass, a 24-yarder to Ja’Kobi Lane.

Update: No. 11 @uscfb has the lead at The Big House.#B1GFootball on CBS 📺 pic.twitter.com/fjvHm074Bv

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 21, 2024

USC’s last chance ended with a fourth-down throw coming up short of the line to gain near midfield.

Mullings had a career-high 159 yards rushing, including a 53-yard scoring run to put the Wolverines ahead early, and Donovan Edwards had a 41-yard run to give them a two-touchdown lead.

Donovan Edwards finds a gap. Donovan Edwards takes it in! pic.twitter.com/qm9pC9CWX0

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 21, 2024

Moss was 28 of 51 for 283 yards with a season-high three touchdowns and a costly interception.

Dang, that was pretty 😍 pic.twitter.com/F6ILFsYsn7

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 21, 2024

USC’s Woody Marks ran for 100 yards on 13 carries, and ripped the football out of defensive tackle Kenneth Grant’s hand after he recovered the big defensive tackle had recovered a fumble for Michigan.

Moss bounced back from throwing a pick-6 to Will Johnson that gave the defending national champions a double-digit lead in third quarter with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jay Fair later in the quarter and his third touchdown pass to Lane with 7:01 left in the fourth.

Michigan needed a touchdown, trailing by four, in the final minute to win because USC defensive tackle Gavin Meyer blocked the extra point after Johnson’s interception return for a touchdown.

It also needed the clutch score because Edwards fumbled to set up a Trojans touchdown, Grant’s fumble helped the Big Ten newcomers score — and Michigan didn’t have a passing threat.

Alex Orji made his first start at quarterback and was 7 of 12 for 32 yards and ran 13 times for 43 yards.

The takeaway

USC’s revamped defense under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn held up well in the second half against an opponent that couldn’t pass. And then broke on Mullings’ long, tackle-breaking run and couldn’t complete the goal-line stand.

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore earned his first signature win as Jim Harbaugh’s successor, making enough moves that panned out in what was potentially a pivotal game in his first season.

BANGED UP

USC receiver Makai Lemon left the in the first quarter after taking a hit while covering a punt. Trojans tight end Lake McRee was hit hard on his left knee, taking another target off the field for Moss.

Johnson left the field in the second half with an apparent injury.

Poll implications

Michigan may move up for the first time this season in the AP Top 25 and will extend a 51-straight week run of being ranked since early in the 2021 season and USC might slip a little in the poll.

Up next

USC hosts Wisconsin on Saturday.

Michigan hosts Minnesota on Saturday.

A preliminary 3.0-magnitude earthquake rattled parts of Malibu Saturday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor occurred at 2:15 p.m. roughly 3 miles from Malibu at a depth of about 6 miles, the agency reported.

Residents in Long Beach, the South Bay and various parts of Los Angeles reported feeling the temblor.

No injuries or structural damage were reported in connection with the earthquake.

California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.

California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform’s algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children’s access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.

The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users’ personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.

“Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits.”

The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children’s accounts to private by default.

Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their age. Some argue it would threaten online privacy by making platforms collect more information on users.

The law defines an “addictive feed” as a website or app “in which multiple pieces of media generated or shared by users are, either concurrently or sequentially, recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based, in whole or in part, on information provided by the user, or otherwise associated with the user or the user’s device,” with some exceptions.

The subject garnered renewed attention in June when U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their impacts on young people. Attorneys general in 42 states endorsed the plan in a letter sent to Congress last week.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing Berkeley who authored the California law, said after lawmakers approved the bill last month that “social media companies have designed their platforms to addict users, especially our kids.”

“With the passage of SB 976, the California Legislature has sent a clear message: When social media companies won’t act, it’s our responsibility to protect our kids,” she said in a statement.