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SALT LAKE CITY — On a cold, rainy night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, it was Utah's passing game that made key plays down the stretch to give the Utes a key 31-27 win over Pac-12 South foe USC.
No. 24 Utah improved to 4-0 on the season, outscoring USC 21-3 over the final quarter and a half.
Things didn't look good for the Utes after USC QB Sam Darnold took a keeper from eight yards out to give USC a 24-10 lead with just over nine minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
But Utah responded in impressive fashion. Here are my instant observation following Utah's big come from behind win.
It's okay to have faith in the #ThrowGame again
The shackles that may have been on previous Utah quarterbacks should be locked away in a bucket and thrown in the Great Salt Lake. When given the opportunity, when it mattered the most, Utah quarterback Troy Williams came through in impressive fashion.
Utah struggled to get the offense going early, electing to run 32 times to only 9 pass attempts in the first half. Down 24-10 in the third quarter, Utah could have folded up shop and moved on to next week. But Utah's resiliency proved enough down the stretch. Williams led three straight touchdown drives to give Utah a 31-27 lead with just 16 seconds remaining.
Williams finished 21-34 for 270 yards and two touchdowns, with multiple key throws on that final drive, capped with a perfect 18 yard strike to Tim Patrick to take the lead.
Give a lot of credit to Utah's offensive line tonight, they looked phenomenal, giving Williams plenty of time to make the reads down the field. They also blocked well in the run game, as Utah ran the ball 47 times for 186 yards.
4th and 1 is no longer an automatic punt/field goal
Four times Utah went for it on fourth down. They converted all four. Getting the push up front and nice reads by running backs gave Utah those conversions that just weren't there in years past. Zack Moss and Armand Shyne teamed up for those huge plays (3 by Moss).
Moss was the feature back for most of the night, despite losing one fumble. He finished with 23 carries for 90 yards. Shyne had 14 carries for 62 yards.
Depth on D-line became an issue tonight
All the talk was how much depth Utah had to rotate on its defensive line. Well, losing Kylie Fitts against BYU and then Lowell Lotulelei early against USC and suddenly Utah's defensive line looked suspect, at best. The unit struggled to get any sort of pressure on freshman QB Sam Darnold, finishing with just 1 sack.
With the extra time Darnold looked sharp, completing 18-26 for 253 yards.
But Utah left it all out on the table, getting the one final stop that allowed Utah and Troy Williams to go on the game winning drive.
Kickoff coverage/blocking suspect
Utah had just taken control of the game, capitalizing on an early USC turnover to go up 7-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Utah elected to kickoff to Adoree Jackson. Jackson did what he does best, taking the return 100 yards to equalize the score at 7. Utah adjusted and didn't kick it to him the rest of the game, but one time is too many for a guy as good as he is with the football.
Utah also struggled to get the correct blocking on its own kickoff returns, averaging just 14 yards per return.
