Even though the USC Trojans entered Saturday night’s game against the Utah Utes as seven-point favorites, most college football experts expected this contest to be a close one.
It wasn’t. Thanks to a couple of interceptions and a costly penalty, the Trojans raced out to a 35-17 lead, turning this one into a laugher late in the third quarter. From that point on, USC played with the confidence and swagger of a top-10 team, one worthy of the preseason ranking it received.
What does Saturday night’s result mean in the grand scheme of things?
For the Trojans, it’s a turning point in what looked like a forgetful season. Sure, they’ll need some help to actually win the Pac-12 South. Yet, there’s no such thing as an easy game in the Pac-12, which means that USC will be in contention as long as it wins out.
Based on what we saw on the gridiron against Utah, that seems like a distinct possibility.
The Trojan defense, which came into the game 76th nationally in total defense, whipped the Utes up front, registering 5 sacks and limiting them to a season-low 98 yards rushing. As a result of the added pressure, Utah QB Travis Wilson was forced to rush his throws, resulting in four interceptions.
On the other side of the ball, the Trojan offense wore down Utah’s defense throughout the second half. The Utes had absolutely no answers for Juju Smith-Schuster, who finished the game with 8 catches for 143 yards.
Long story short, USC played like a top-10 team on Saturday. If it continues to to play like this for the rest of the season, don’t be shocked if the Trojans run the table – including a victory over Stanford if it should qualify for the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Men of Troy were simply that good this evening.
As for Utah, the best thing the Utes can do is put this game behind them. Yes, a loss like this will sting for a bit, but the bottom line is that the Utes are still in the driver’s seat in the South Division. With a one-game lead over everyone else, all Utah needs to do is win and it will play for the league title.
A banged-up UCLA team has to venture to Salt Lake City in November. If the Utes win that game, it’s going to be very hard for USC to overtake Kyle Whittingham’s team. USC would need to win out and get help from a non-UCLA source against Utah. That will be hard to find on the schedule, though as this result in the L.A. Coliseum shows, it’s not easy to predict the Pac-12.
Utah’s playoff hopes certainly took a hit on Saturday, but the Utes are not dead, and their path to the Pac-12 title remains not only clear, but favorable. If that’s not a great silver lining of an awfully dark cloud, I don’t know what would qualify as an example.
