There were mixed emotions coming from the Utes’ locker room Saturday night following their 42-24 loss to USC. Heading into the game, Utah was ranked No. 3 in the country, running the table in the Pac-12 to an undefeated year thus far.
But with the loss, the team now carries a 6-1 record heading into the remainder of the season. Disappointment, frustration and even optimism were some of the feelings Gionni Paul, Travis Wilson and Britain Covey expressed after their defeat to the Trojans.
Paul played aggressively throughout tall four quarters and led the team on defense with 11 solo tackles, six assisted and one sack. He really came alive in the third quarter, after the Utes trailed 28-17 at the end of the first half.
“[In the second half] I just realized — I don’t know, it’s kind of weird — but it’s my team. That’s my defense, and I just said in my head, ‘it’s going to be up to me to make plays,’” Paul said.
Although his performance was praiseworthy, Paul felt he and the defensive end could have done more to stop the Trojans’ talented offense. Although the Utes are without key defensive players due to injury, they don’t use that as an excuse to explain the disconnect on defense during the game.
“Don’t get me wrong, Jared [Norris] does great things for our team … but that was a team loss,” Paul said. “We didn’t expect to get punched in the mouth, but we got punched in the mouth. We need to get to work on Monday.”
On the offensive end, senior Wilson had a night to forget. He threw four interceptions that the Trojans took advantage of, setting the offense on a roller coaster of production from the beginning of the second quarter.
USC’s defense was very active and stuck to the gameplay that interim head coach Clay Helton had in place in his first game at home as the new head coach. Holding himself accountable for the errors, Wilson is aware of improvements he needs to make as a quarterback moving forward.
“They just played good defense, and they had a lot of great athletes on their team, but I just need to make smart decisions,” Wilson said. “I need to make better throws.”
Keeping the team’s goals in mind, Wilson wants to put this game, this first loss on the season, behind him and continue working toward winning the Pac-12 Championship. Utah still has a one-game lead in the South division, after all.
“Obviously, I am disappointed in my play, but we just need to learn from this game and bounce back up,” Wilson said. “We still have a good season ahead of us, and we are the top in the South, we just need to make corrections … a loss is a loss, so it’s going to hurt either way.”
Covey was Wilson’s main target all night and a bright spot on offense, especially in the second quarter. The freshman even kept the Utes in the game during the first quarter with his touchdown catch and punt return that nearly went for a score. He, too, is looking forward to preparing for Utah’s next series of competitors.
“Our main goal right now is to win the Pac-12 South, and we are still in the driver’s seat right now,” Covey said. “Going into Monday, that’s going to be huge for us to have that as motivation, and I think that’s really important for us to keep deciding what’s most important, you know? It’s just going to be a bump in the road.”
The Utes are going to use the feelings that came with the difficult loss as reinforcement to keep working toward their goals and to make changes in order to get back to their winning ways.
“Obviously it’s tough,” Covey said. “I think that you can also use this as motivation — this feeling that we have right now. You don’t want to lose, and this feeling that we have right now, you just never want to feel it again. I think that’s part of being a competitor. You hate to lose, just as much as you want to win.”
@laurenrose324