In what was supposed to be a battle of blueblood giants, fans might not get tremendously high level of football in the USC vs. Michigan matchup. While USC is ranked 11th and Michigan 18th, the Wolverines have looked quite bad in head coach Sherrone Moore's debut season. 

Of course, he's replaced almost the entire roster after the program won the national championship just eight months ago. Still, Texas' 31-12 beatdown in Week 2 left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Bettors have taken notice.

Moore has already ruled that Alex Orji will be the starting quarterback against USC, moving away from Davis Warren. Warren was one of the worst quarterbacks in the nation statistically, unable to throw beyond 10 yards without forcing a turnover.

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Colston Loveland Injury Update

That's not all that has gone wrong. Star tight end Colston Loveland is dealing with an injury, and Michigan is hoping for a quick healing process. Loveland leads the team with 19 receptions and 187 yards. 

He suffered an upper-body injury in Week 3, and assistant Steve Casula had this to say about his status:

"Everybody in our program that’s not dealing with a season-ending injury or an upper-body, head injury of some sort, they practice every day," he said. "That could look a lot of different ways for a lot of different players, whether they’re dealing with an injury or not."

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For as encouraging as Keith Mullings has played, it's also come at the cost of Donovan Edwards playing poorly again. Edwards is a terrific athlete, but Michigan's gap system doesn't seem to play into his strengths. Mullings is more decisive and has better contact balance.

USC vs. Michigan Odds Favor Trojans

USC had a break during Week 3, enjoying a bye after kicking off their season with a 2-0 record both straight up and against the spread. Their season opener saw the Trojans securing a notable 27-20 victory as 4-point underdogs against LSU in a neutral-site match in Las Vegas. 

They then went on to dominate Utah State with an easy 48-0 win at home, despite giving up 31 points.

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On the other hand, Michigan was overwhelmed by Texas in their second game, falling 31-12 as 6.5-point underdogs on the road. In Week 3, they had a comfortable lead over Arkansas State, 28-3, early in the fourth quarter before easing up. The Wolverines managed a 28-18 win but failed to cover as 21.5-point favorites at home.

According to Patrick Everson of VegasInsider, the opening line for the USC vs. Michigan game at TwinSpires Sportsbook was USC favored by 5.5 points, which was adjusted to -6 before settling back to -5.5, with the Trojans drawing 75% of the early bets and 82% of the early money wagered on the spread.

The over/under started at 46 but has since been adjusted to 44.5, briefly touching 45. The Under has attracted 59% of the bets and 52% of the monetary stakes.