The No. 3 Utes are on the road this weekend in one of college’s most-storied stadiums — USC’s The Coliseum — where they will face off against the Trojans. Ahead of Saturday’s game, The Utah Chronicle had the opportunity to talk to Darian Nourian (@dariannourian23) of the Daily Trojan to see what’s going on in Los Angeles.
All the headlines out of USC this past week were about Steve Sarkisian, how will the Trojans push past this?
The leadership of Clay Helton played a large role in the team’s ability to put recent events on the back burner. All of the players showed an abundance of support when he was named interim head coach and that carried into practice over the course of the week. I spoke to a few players and they told me that they love Clay and everything he was doing to get the team pumped up to play in a rivalry game against the Fighting Irish. He also had former USC greats Keyshawn Johnson and Keith Rivers come out to practice and speak to the team to further hype them up. A lot of people surrounding the program started calling Helton “Ed Orgeron 2.0.” You also have to remember that this wasn’t the first time a lot of USC players have experienced a coaching change. Essentially, Helton replanted the seed and added water, but the Trojans need to win in order to dawn the light.
They also just lost to long-time foe Notre Dame, what went wrong in this game?
The Trojans simply made one too many mistakes to win a game in that type of hostile environment, whether it was on offense, defense or special teams. For starters, the game was decided by 10 points. A blocked punt that resulted in a Irish touchdown and a missed field goal off the upright at the end of the half is the difference there. Two timely interceptions in the fourth quarter by Cody Kessler contributed to Notre Dame being able to shut out USC in the final quarter. The dagger in the end for USC was penalties: 10 penalties for 105 yards including two big pass interference penalties allowed the Irish to move the ball down the field on two 90-plus yard drives in the second half.
What does USC need to work on leading up to the Utah game?
USC needs to continue to fine tune its overall defensive scheme, both in the rushing and passing games. It will get burned by a high-potent Utes offense if it fails to do so. The Trojans also need to make sure it gets the fundamentals on lock so they can stay away from penalties as much as possible. Helton and the offense need to continue to diversify the offense, especially as the team enters the bulk of Pac-12 play, because teams are going to have seen certain plays on tape and are going to be able to sniff them out, like Washington did, if it doesn’t differentiate week by week. I’m a fan of the trick plays, though, and if the Trojans can continue to execute them, they will be valuable assets to their arsenal.
Who on Utah will give them trouble?
Utah running back Devontae Booker is an absolute stud and based on the way the Trojans have played against opposing running backs with Booker’s type of explosiveness thus far this season, he could give them a lot of trouble on Saturday night. Last game against the Irish, defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox allowed 200-plus yards from the Notre Dame running game including 143 yards on 19 carries by C.J. Prosise. Adding to that, USC has historically had trouble containing dual-threat quarterbacks and entering stage right on Thursday is just that in Travis Wilson. Wilson is most dangerous when he is able to escape the pocket and pick up yards with his legs. Going back to the Notre Dame again, Deshone Kizer had his way against USC for the most part on the ground and Wilson has the opportunity to do the same if Wilcox doesn’t make the appropriate adjustments.
Who will Utah need to keep its eyes on?
Adoree’ Jackson. He’s, perhaps, the most dynamic player in all of college football. He spends most of his time playing defensive back, but with nagging injuries taking their toll on the wide receiver corps, he’s been getting a lot more reps on offense and is making a tremendous impact. Opposing defenses fear the moment No. 2 steps onto the field and touches the ball because you just don’t know what he’s going to do next. Expect to see him a lot more on offense in the coming weeks as he was wearing an offensive jersey for the first time in practice this week.
If USC wins, what will be the main reason why?
Cody Kessler, who is looking to redeem himself from consecutive multi-interception games. He has the opportunity to show that he has it in him to come up with a big-time performance in a big-time game. He is going to need to throw a few touchdowns and avoid miscues if USC’s going to win this game. Another vital element to USC’s success will be turnovers. Against Arizona State, they forced four of them and routed the Sun Devils. If it can pick Wilson off a couple of times, it will give the USC offense more time and likely better field position with the ball.
What does a win/loss do for the Trojans?
At face value, a win would give USC renewed life in the Pac-12 South and also a win over a ranked opponent for the first time in a while. It would give the Trojans their first win since the firing of former head coach Steve Sarkisian and for Helton, a marquee win that could define his career in the interim role — similar to Orgeron’s win over Stanford a couple years ago. It would be considered an upset, but not really because USC is currently a three-point favorite headed into the game. I know what this win would mean not only for this team, but the program as a whole after all of the turmoil it has been forced to endure. I’m calling it now — If USC wins this game, they will win the Pac-12 South.
Who do you think will win and why?
34-31 USC. The Trojans played their hearts out last week and just came up short because to put it simply, Notre Dame made more timely plays than they did and made fewer mistakes. This USC team continues to have a chip on its shoulder and is going to come out even more pumped than last week in its first game since the debacle against Washington. I think the USC offense will have success against a stout Utes defense, while not turning the ball over. While Utah will have a big day on the ground, I don’t think Wilson will give the Trojans much trouble in the air and make a few mistakes here and there. When all is set and done, I think USC shocks the rest of the country and hands Utah its first loss of the season.
@kbrenneisen