Dashed line: 100 yards.
Miller against USC’s best seasons, game by game
Backs who run like Miller, and how their seasons went
Miller against this year’s top backs, game by game
The road ahead: 681 yards, 76 a game, 3 regular-season games left.
Over the last few games, USC fans have been high on Miller.
“idc. king miller is good and i like him”
“KING MILLER WITH THE UNSELFISHNESS”
“I love King Miller”
From r/CFB game thread. Read by AI.
4 stories in the last 30 days, from 3 outlets.
USC Running Back King Miller Selected as Nominee for 2026 Burlsworth Trophy
USC Athletics Nov 3
Entered 2025 as a walk-on freshman and rose to become USC's lead back. As of Oct 22. SI, USC
No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.
Share of the team's total this season.
Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 26, middle 88, right 24. His longest went for 35 yards.
King Miller
King Miller is a cornerstone for USC — measured against the line King Miller joined.
Rushing value per play
+0.24
our model · 2026 · 80 plays
USC fans keep putting the player's case on trial, week to week.
Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04
Play style
Just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 19.4% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 15.4% of his carries. 11 carries for 8 yds vs Wisconsin; 18 for 128 vs Louisiana.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
47.2% of carries overall (133/282) → 34.3% of Q4-with-lead carries (23/67) — 82.6% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
5 of the team's 19 inside-the-5 carries (26.3%).
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
from 3 outlets
USC Running Back King Miller Selected as Nominee for 2026 Burlsworth Trophy
USC Athletics Nov 3 · 1 outlet
from 7 outlets
USC Running Back King Miller Doesn't Hold Back About Under-Recruited Journey
Sports Illustrated +1 Aug 11 · 2 outlets
Sports Illustrated +1USC Running Back King Miller Doesn't Hold Back About Under-Recruited JourneyAug 11Sports IllustratedKing Miller Pulls Back the Curtain on USC’s Speed and StrengthAug 26Sports Illustrated +1USC Running Backs Waymond Jordan, King Miller Share Mindset Entering the FallAug 13Sports IllustratedUSC Running Back King Miller Explains Where His Game Has Evolved From Last SeasonAug 3Sports IllustratedUSC Running Back King Miller Shares Unfiltered Take On Breakout PerformanceSep 16USC AthleticsSports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated
247SportsSports IllustratedSports Illustrated +1Each week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Fans first named King Miller vs San José State.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Aura compares how much fans talk about this player with how well this player plays, each ranked among RBs.
+8aura tax
47th percentile our rushing-value metric (weighted expected points added) ranked among 104 RBs
— the talk and the play rank about the same.Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 78 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 2 catches.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-26vs San José State | 15 | 63 | 4.2 | 1 | 9 | |
| Wk 1 | W 39-0vs Fresno State | 15 | 45 | 3.0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 2 | W 49-30vs Louisiana | 18 | 128 | 7.1 | 1 | 29 | Season-high 128 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 42-35@ Rutgers | 16 | 102 | 6.4 | 1 | 20 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-41vs No. 20 Oregon | 13 | 74 | 5.7 | 0 | 27 | |
| Wk 5 | W 25-21vs Washington | 18 | 81 | 4.5 | 0 | 35 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-23@ Penn State | 19 | 102 | 5.4 | 1 | 16 | |
| Wk 8 | L 7-24@ Wisconsin | 11 | 8 | 0.7 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 9 | W 30-18vs No. 2 Ohio State | 13 | 78 | 6.0 | 1 | 21 | |
| Total | 138 | 681 | 4.9 | 5 | 35 |
Oct. 31 · W 30-18 vs Ohio State, play by play
13 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.
21-yard run on 3rd and 19. Second quarter, up 14-6. Converted.
11 carries for 8 yards. He also caught 3 passes for 13 yards.
No gain on 3rd and 1. First quarter, tied 0-0.
8-yard catch. Second quarter, down 3-0.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
19 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, with USC ahead by one score, he carried 6 times for 40 yards. He converted a 4th and 1 with USC down 20-17.
The per-play feed is missing a 3-yard loss in the second quarter, which the play text shows; the chart draws the 18 carries it has.
2-yard run on 4th and 1. Third quarter, down 20-17. Converted.
16-yard run. Fourth quarter, up 31-23.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
18 carries for 81 yards.
The per-play feed is missing a 2-yard run in the third quarter (the play drew a penalty), which the play text shows; the chart draws the 17 carries it has.
35-yard run. First quarter, tied 0-0.
4-yard run on 3rd and 2. Second quarter, up 10-7. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
13 carries for 74 yards. He converted a 4th and 1 with the score tied 0-0.
2-yard run on 4th and 1. First quarter, tied 0-0. Converted.
27-yard run. Second quarter, down 10-7.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
16 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, with USC ahead by one score, he carried 6 times for 37 yards.
20-yard run on 3rd and 8. First quarter, tied 0-0. Converted.
8-yard run on 3rd and 3. Fourth quarter, up 42-35. Converted.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
18 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown, his most this season. 5 of his 18 carries went 10 yards or more; the longest went 29.
13-yard run on 3rd and 1. First quarter, down 3-0. Converted.
29-yard run. Fourth quarter, up 42-23.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
15 carries for 45 yards.
10-yard run. Second quarter, up 14-0.
Each carry is a stem from the line, in the lane the play text names, sorted shortest to longest. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.
Week 9 · 2026
W 30-18
vs Ohio State
The plays that mattered most
32nd in rushing yards, among all 1,551 FBS players with a rushing row this season, any position
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -11 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
43%136 carriesFumble rate
2.2%3 of 138 carries · 1 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.9 yds/carry on 138 carries · 15% explosive (10+ yds) · 43% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
2 seasons under Lincoln Riley, all balanced offenses — 16-6 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 78.2 | 5.1 | 0.5 |
| Road3g | 70.7 | 4.2 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 85.0 | 5.2 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 43.0 | 3.4 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
51.8%
310 pass / 289 run
Plays / game
66.6
9 games
Team sack rate
3.6%
338 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
138 carries and 9 catches in 9 games, more touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #8 of 44 Big Ten RBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
2026 is in progress.
