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SALT LAKE CITY - The time has come. Players and coaches no longer need to avoid answering questions or pretend that their focus is on Montana State anymore. Next up for Utah is the USC Trojans. Welcome to the Pac-12.
Saturday's upcoming matchup between the Utes and Trojans will not only be the first ever Pac-12 Conference football game, but in all reality might as well be the season opener for both teams.
Series SnapshotUtah's 10-6 victory in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl snapped a six-game losing streak to the Trojans and marked the Utes' first win against USC since 1916. The last two games in this series—which USC leads 6-3—came in the postseason, with USC beating Utah 28-21 in the 1993 Freedom Bowl before the Utes turned the tables in 2001. They have not played in the Coliseum since 1948—a 27-0 USC win.
 Utah |  USC | Adv. | |
| OFFENSIVE STATS | |||
| Points For (Per Game) | 27.00 | 19.00 | |
| Rushing Yards (Per Game) | 191.00 | 67.00 | |
| Passing Yards (Per Game) | 101.00 | 304.00 | |
| Total Yards (Per Game) | 292.00 | 371.00 | |
| 3rd Down Conversions (Season) | 31% | 50% | |
| 4th Down Conversions (Season) | 100% | 0% | |
| Time of Possession (Per Game) | 30:43 | 32:44 | |
| Red Zone Scores (Season) | 100% | 67% | |
| DEFENSIVE STATS | |||
| Points Against (Per Game) | 10.00 | 17.00 | |
| Rushing Defense (Per Game) | 75.00 | 110.00 | |
| Passing Defense (Per Game) | 183.00 | 192.00 | |
| Total Defense (Per Game) | 258.00 | 302.00 | |
| 3rd Down Defense % (Season) | 33% | 43% | |
Both USC and Utah faced opponents in week one that I'm sure players and coaches found very difficult to get excited about. USC is coming off a 19-17 win over Minnesota at home, while the Utes beat Montana State 27-10.
The Trojans even had a tough time getting fans excited about playing the Golden Gophers, who won only 3 games last season. In fact, USC's home-opening crowd of 68,273 was the smallest homer opener since 2002 (the Coliseum can hold 93,607).
The same can't be said of this week's upcoming matchup between the Utes and Trojans. Both teams have been looking forward to this week's game since the schedules were released back in July.
"We're looking forward to our inaugural Pac-12 game against an outstanding USC team," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "The Trojans have one of the most storied programs in all of college football and year in and year out are as talented as anyone in the country, with this year being no exception. We obviously have a lot of work to do in the next few days as we prepare for our Saturday contest in the Coliseum."
Offense
USC starting quarterback Matt Barkley leads the offensive attack for the Trojans. The junior signal caller was selected to five preseason award watch lists as one of the nation's elite quarterbacks. Barkley has thrown for at least 200 yards in 15 career games, and has surpassed 300 yards five times. In the first half against Minnesota, Barkley was a staggering 18-20 for 163 yards.
Barkley's leading target is sophomore sensation Robert Woods. Woods, a Freshman All-American and Pac-10 Offensive Freshman of the Year last season, hauled in 17 catches (a new school record) for 177 yards and had three touchdowns. He also nearly broke off a kick return for another score.
Junior Curtis McNeal and freshman D.J. Morgan split the carries last week for USC, but senior Marc Tyler, who sat out last week because of a suspension, will be back in the forefront to handle most of the carries against the Utes. Tyler had three 100 yard games last season in eight starts. Meanwhile, Morgan had a game-best 70 rushing yards on 18 carries against Minnesota.
The 2011 offensive line is brand new, as the Trojans lost all five starters to graduation and the NFL draft.
Last season, Barkley and Co. managed to eclipse the 600- yard mark twice, but the Trojans are saying all the right things prior to this week's game.
"I know Utah has a great defensive line and their defense might be one of the best in the Pac-12," USC fullback Rhett Ellison said.
Defense
USC returns seven starters on defense, and the experience showed in week one against Minnesota. The Trojans gave up just 302 yards (Matt Barkley had 304 passing yards in comparison).
The line is anchored by DE Nick Perry and DT DaJohn Harris, who combined for 11 tackles, a forced fumble and 1.5 sacks.
The linebacking corps. is relatively new for the Trojans, with a slew of players vying for playing time. Redshirt freshman Hayes Pullard led the team with 8 tackles aided in a sack.
The Trojans only lost 1 starter in the secondary. Returning are junior safeties T.J. McDonald and Jawanza Starling. McDonald lead the team in tackles in 2010 and was named to the all-Pac-10 second team.
The play of the defense will be key this season for USC. The offense will be able to put up a lot of points, and if the defense can continue to play as well as they did against Minnesota, the Trojans will win a lot of games this year.
Special Teams
The Trojans had to replace both their punter and placekicker. Junior walk-on Kyle Negrete averaged 37.2 yards per punt in week 1, while freshman Andre Heidari was 1-1 on PATs (the Trojans went for two points on the other touchdowns and were unsuccessful).
Email: rojackson@ksl.com
Twitter: @rojackKSL
