Pac-12 Football Notes: Reviewing the Utah-USC Thriller
We could discuss a number of things in this week's Pac-12 notebook.
We might note that the Pac-12 has more teams averaging more than 40 points – five – than any other conference.
Or we could point out the disparity in production between home and away games for Washington, Washington State and Cal – three teams that simply are not the same teams away from their own stadiums.
We might even harp on the importance of next Saturday’s UCLA-Oregon game in Eugene.
We could make note of Michael Penix Jr.’s school-record passing performance.
We might explain how Stanford ended its 11-game losing streak against FBS teams by beating Notre Dame on the Irish's home field.
Or we might highlight the celebration prompted by Colorado’s first win of the season, which came in its first game under interim head coach Mike Sanford.
But let’s face, all anybody wants to talk about on this Sunday is that riveting USC-Utah game won by the Utes 43-42. So let’s talk about it.
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The Decision
Before Utah’s final touchdown drive began, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham had already decided he would go for two if Utah scored a touchdown. That goes against the prevailing theory that you go for one to tie the game in that situation, especially at home. Maybe one in 20 coaches would have gone for two after Utah scored to cut its deficit to 42-41 with 48 seconds left.
Two things affected Whittingham’s decision. 1. Utah would have trouble stopping USC and quarterback Caleb Williams in overtime. 2. Whittingham had Cameron Rising on his side. If he had had any other quarterback, Whittingham might have kicked the tying extra point, but he had Rising, who was called on to score the touchdown on fourth-down from the 1-yard line and run for the two-point conversions.
“He’s a playmaker,” said Whittingham, “He always gets it done.”
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The Utah Offense
The Utes trailed 21-7 at one point, but they scored touchdowns on five of their final six possessions. In the only exception, Utah drove 72 yards before fumbling the ball away at the USC 3-yard line, so they probably would have scored on that one too. In the other five possessions, they had drives of 60, 70, 75, 79 and 75 yards that ended up in the end zone.
The Utes have been known for their defense in recent years, but they have yielded more than 40 points in each of their past two games, and their offense saved them against USC.
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The Yardage
The teams combined for 1,118 yards of offense – 562 for Utah and 556 for USC. You could claim that both teams lack solid defenses, and you would be correct, but offense is the name of the game in the Pac-12 this season. USC recorded 42 points, 556 yards and no turnovers and lost, and Arizona rolled up 39 points, 526 yards, 31 first downs and no turnovers and lost by 10 points to Washington.
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The Quarterbacks
USC’s Caleb Williams was outstanding. He threw five touchdown passes with no interceptions, and, if you discount sack yardage, he ran for 97 yards. He has 19 touchdown passes and just one pick this season, ranking him sixth in the country in TD throws and fourth in the country in touchdown-to-interception margin at plus-18. That and the Trojans’ 6-1 record are Heisman Trophy numbers.
However, he was the second-best quarterback in the game in Salt Lake City. Rising threw for 415 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and also ran for 60 yards and three touchdowns. That does not include his two-point conversion run.
And he made big play after big play, converting four pivotal plays in the final drive.
Third-and-10 from the Utah 36: Rising to Dalton Kincaid for 12 yards
Third-and-1 from the USC 43: Rising to Kincaid for 19 yards.
Third-and-5 from the USC 19: Rising to Kincaid for 11 yards.
Fourth-and-goal from the USC 1: Rising sneaks for the touchdown.
Which brings us to:
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The Tight End
Utah’s Dalton Kincaid has 16 receptions, a Pac-12 record for a tight end, for 234 yards and a score. And it’s noteworthy that he was Rising’s target on every key play on the final drive.
There was concern that the season-ending injury to Utah's preseason first-team all-Pac-12 tight end Brant Kuithe several weeks ago might doom the Utes. Kincaid had different ideas, and he showed his emotion after the win was completed.
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The Officiating
Yes, the Pac-12 officiating will get criticism for a number of questionable calls in the game, and two stood out.
First was the roughing-the-passer penalty on the Trojans that negated a USC interception, a possible game-changer.
Second was the ruling and explanation of the time left on the clock in the closing seconds. When pass interference was called on Utah on USC’s final possession, there were 13 seconds left, and the clock inexplicably stopped at 12 seconds, even though Utah’s JaTravis Broughton intercepted the pass and began running upfield. The clock began running again after a lapse of about four or five seconds and stopped at eight seconds when Broughton was pushed out of bounds. When a review was ordered, it was assumed the clock would be pushed down to three or four seconds remaining, giving USC one last play. Instead it was reset to 13 seconds, the point at which the interference call was made. That gave USC two more plays and could have been stretched to three plays with wise time-management.
There was no explanation given for the odd ruling on the time change, and we can only assume one official mistakenly whistled and signaled the play dead when the interference was called. That would force officials to stop the clock at that point. We’re guessing.
“I’ve still got to figure out what’s going on with that clock,” Whittingham said. “I don’t know, someone’s got to explain all that to me. It was bizarre how that went down.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley is apt to get reprimanded for this comment:
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The Impact
By winning, Utah remained in the race for a second straight Pac-12 title, while USC is still in contention for a College Football Playoff berth if it wins its remaining five games. After next week’s Oregon-UCLA game, only one team will be unbeaten in Pac-12 play, but neither would be eliminated from the conference title chase.
The Fab Four of the Pac-12 remain UCLA, USC, Utah and Oregon, all of whom are bunched together between No. 9 and No. 15 in this week's AP top-25 poll.
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The Helmets
Utah had special helmets made with the faces of former Utah players Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe on either side. They both died between December 2020 and September 2021.
Pretty cool tribute.
Photo by Rob Gray, USA Today
In the Utes’ postgame locker room, game balls were presented to the mothers of each deceased player. It's kind of neat when an exciting game is won in heroic fashion at the end for a cause.
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The Top Five Pac-12 Teams
1. UCLA (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) -- The only unbeaten Pac-12 team, and the highest ranked Pac-12 team at No. 9 this week.
2. Utah (5-2, 2-1 Pac-12) -- The win over USC lifts the Utes above the Trojans, even though the No. 15 Utes are behind USC in the AP poll..
3. USC (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12) -- Still very much in the Pac-12 title race and even in the College Football Playoff chase with a No. 12 ranking this week.
4. Oregon (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) -- Ranked No. 10, the Ducks' game against UCLA next week in Eugene should be a doozy.
5. Washington (5-2, 2-2) -- There's a gap between the top four and the Huskies.
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Pac-12 Player of the Year Standings
1. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA -- Fifth nationally in passer rating for an unbeaten team ranked No. 9 after being unranked in preseason.
2. Quarterback Cameron Rising, Utah -- We've been swayed by his performance on Saturday, but it had an impact on everyone.
3. Quarterback Caleb Williams, USC -- His numbers are good enough to put him on top, but the quarterback competition in this conference is stiff.
4. Quarterback Bo Nix, Oregon -- He'll get his chance to shine (or disappear) next week at home against UCLA.
5. Running back Zach Charbonnet, UCLA -- The Pac-12's leading rusher barely beat out Washington QB Michael Penix Jr., who passed for a school-record 516 yards against Arizona and leads the nation in passing yards per game.
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Cover photo by Rob Gray, USA TODAY Sports
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