12 – Utah set a physical tone in its first offensive possession. It consisted of 12 straight run plays in which they averaged nearly five yards per carry.
30 – Utah compiled 30 first downs throughout the course of the game (and never had a 3-and-out). By consistently moving the chains, Utah was able to mount sustained drives that kept USC’s offense off the field. (Last year Utah never had more than 24 first downs in a game. When was the last time Utah had 30? In 2008 against San Diego State.)
15:18 – That’s the difference in time of possession, and it’s also a little more than how much time is in a quarter. USC’s defense essentially had to play one more quarter than Utah’s defense, and that fatigue may have been the difference at the end of the game when Utah made its comeback.
10 – Troy Williams did a good job of spreading the ball around, and he completed at least one pass to 10 different receivers. (This is the second time he has reached that milestone in a game this season.)
5 – Williams does have a favorite receiver though. Against USC, Tim Patrick caught his fifth touchdown of the season. In the past two seasons, Utah hasn’t had a receiver with more than four touchdowns. (Through four games, Patrick is on pace to haul in 15 touchdowns, and that would be enough for second all-time in the Utah record books, right behind Dennis Smith who caught 18 touchdowns during the 1989 season.)
270 – That’s how many yards Troy Williams gained through the air. It’s also the most yards any Utah quarterback has thrown against USC since joining the Pac-12, and it is the first time that Utah’s quarterback has thrown for more yards than USC’s quarterback.
456 – Utah’s total yards on offense. In six games against USC since joining the Pac-12, Utah has never had more total offense than USC, and that didn’t change — USC had 466 yards of offense — but the margin is narrowing. The difference in total yards over the last five years is 128, 59, 33, 27 and then only 10 in this year’s game.
Comparing Utah’s offense to Alabama and Stanford, who also beat USC this season, Utah had 52 more yards than Stanford and only nine fewer yards than Alabama.
4 – Utah faced a 4th-and-short four times in the game. Head coach Kyle Whittingham (who has always been known for his conservative play calling) chose to go for it every time. Most significantly, Utah converted two 4th downs on its last game-winning drive.
3 – With 9:48 left in the this quarter, USC scored a touchdown to go up by 14. At that point, many Utah fans assumed the game was pretty much over — nope. Utah’s offense scored a touchdown on its last 3 possessions. And it wasn’t like the last time Utah scored a touchdown on three consecutive possessions when BYU turned the ball over to Utah deep in its own territory. Utah’s three drives went for 85, 75 and 93 yards.
1 – Most important of all: Utah has a 1-0 conference record.
@jusstadams