USC was the six-point favorite going into Saturday’s game, and rightfully, as they defeated the No. 3 Utes in the Coliseum 42-24.
After a lackluster opening drive for the Utes, USC capitalized on this and plenty other Utah mistakes. Travis Wilson had a decent start to the game, but it only lasted for a quarter. He threw two interceptions in the second, one which resulted in a touchdown for the Trojans. This trouble continued into the second half where he threw two more picks in the fourth quarter, and the defense could not do much to halt USC’s offense.
Going into the game, the Utes knew JuJu Smith-Schuster would be a problem — and he was. He had his way with the Utah defense and did not go down easily. He finished the game with 143 yards on eight catches. Gionni Paul thinks his team was not ready for Saturday’s challenge.
“I got to give it to [USC], they came to play today,” Paul said. “We got punched in our mouth. We got a reality check.”
Though special teams cleaned up its play, it was not nearly enough to make up for the offense and defense, and starting linebacker Jared Norris being out with an injury is no excuse.
Every team has to deal with injuries, and the Utes are no exception, according to head coach Kyle Whittingham. He thinks this is the best team they have played and his team needs to step up regardless of who is or isn’t playing.
“Everyone in this country’s got injuries,” Whittingham said. “There’s not a team in the nation that’s not banged up. You don’t ever use ‘We’re injured or we’re young’ or any of that bull crap.”
Utah did not get much going in its opening drive, surrendering the ball to the Trojans. USC easily made its way down the field on its first drive, and Justin Davis capped off this drive with the first score of the game.
The Utes bounced back on their next possession, with Devontae Booker pounding away down the field. Then, Wilson aired it out to freshman Britain Covey for the 30-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7.
The Utah defense stepped up on the next drive and stopped USC from getting anywhere near the end zone. After Jason Whittingham and Hunter Dimick paired up for a sack, the Trojans had to punt from its own three-yard line. Covey made another highlight play by returning that punt 40 yards to the two-yard line.
Bubba Poole finished the job on the next play to give the Utes the 14-7 lead early on.
The score remained the same until about five minutes into the second quarter, when Wilson threw an interception, which USC returned to Utah’s four-yard line. It took the Trojans four downs, but they evened the score at 14.
On Utah’s next possession, Wilson nearly threw another interception, and the Utes were forced to punt. The Trojans then steadily made their way down the field to score their third rushing touchdown of the night, and USC took back the lead 21-14.
Andy Phillips did nail a 53-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to bring the Utes closer, but not until after USC was able to pick off Wilson for a second time and return it for a touchdown. Heading into the half, the Trojans were up 28-17.
The third quarter started off pretty quietly for both teams until a face mask penalty against the Utes gave USC more momentum. The Trojans used this to their advantage and scored a touchdown on another fourth down to extend the lead to 35-17.
Utah was close to stopping USC on both of those drives, which each resulted in four-and-goal situations, but could not come through on those final downs.
Though he was far from quiet on Saturday, Smith-Schuster finally found the endzone five minutes into the fourth quarter, and his touchdown put the Trojans up 42-17.
Then, just when the Utes desperately needed to start something, Wilson threw his third pick.
On the Utes’ following drive, Covey tried to give his team something to cheer about when he broke free and ran for a score to cut it to 42-24.
Utah tried to get another touchdown in the closing seconds, but Wilson’s Hail Mary attempt resulted in his fourth interception of the night.
Covey was one of the lone bright spots for Utah — seven catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns. This being his first loss as a Ute, he knows he never wants to experience something like this again.
“We [need to] keep sight of what’s important,” Covey said. “I think we can use this as motivation. That feeling that we have right now, we don’t want to lose. That feeling that we have right now, you just never want to feel it again. ”
Moving forward, that’s exactly what this team will do. Whittingham knows these Utes need to push past the loss and focus on next weekend.
“We’ve got to regroup. All is not lost,” Whittingham said.
@kbrenneisen