Utah-USC may not have been a true rivalry, but it was often an important showdown

SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Whittingham does not believe that USC is a rival of the University of Utah.

The longtime Utes head coach said as much Monday morning during his normal weekly press conference. Whether or not you agree with Whittingham, everyone should be able to agree on what he said next.

"I don't want to call it a rivalry because I don't think that's the situation, but it's been a great back-and-forth series," Whittingham said. "Implications, typically every year, most every year — conference-championship implications. We, of course, played them in the championship game last year, so it's turned out to be a very competitive and very intense football game, and I'm sure this year will be no different."

The 14th-ranked Utes and 18th-ranked Trojans will meet Saturday evening at the LA Coliseum (6 p.m. MDT, FOX). Unless the two meet in a bowl game sometime down the road, Saturday figures to be the last meeting between the Pac-12 powers for the foreseeable future. USC is off to the Big Ten in 2024, at which time Utah will begin membership in the Big 12.

Whittingham's belief that Utah-USC is not a rivalry is likely rooted in valid points.

The two sides will have only shared a conference for 12 years, an exceptionally small amount of time against the larger college football backdrop. They're in different time zones, let alone different states, while recruiting wars for the same recruits is not typically the case.

Neither could be considered by even passive observers as the other's biggest rival. The Trojans have played Notre Dame 91 times and crosstown rival UCLA 90 times, while the Utes have played BYU 95 times. Utah and USC have played just 21 times. Of those 21, 13 have come since Utah entered the Pac-12 in 2011, meaning they played just eight times over a span of 86 years, one of which was the Las Vegas Bowl in 2001.

There is abundant evidence in which to say Utah-USC is not a rivalry, but as Whittingham alluded to Monday, since the Utes entered the Pac-12 in 2011 and thus began playing the Trojans annually as members of the conference's South Division, the matchup has mattered.

Furthermore, Utah trips to the Coliseum have come under an especially-bright spotlight as the venerable 100-year-old building has been a house of horrors for the Utes. Utah was 0-5 there as a Pac-12 member before finally breaking through in 2021. That win was the program's first in the city of Los Angeles since 1916, a losing streak of 13 games between USC and UCLA.

"This game has been very competitive," Whittingham said. "That's what it's been. It's been a fist fight. It seems like every year, it's gone back and forth, and it's just been a great series ever since we joined the conference."

Added wide receiver Devaughn Vele, a Southern California native who will play in his fifth career game vs. USC: "They're always dogfights — you go back to 2021, even in 2022, as well. It's never an easy game, we're always gonna get their best shot, they're always gonna get our best shot. I have a lot of good memories of playing against USC, so we're expecting a lot of big things coming up this Saturday.

"I think I speak for the majority of us, we grew up kind of all watching USC. I speak for myself, I watched USC when I was a kid, as well, so going back home and playing against them, it's kind of like a big thing for all of us and get to play in front of our families and friends and all that stuff. I think it's a big game for all the Cali boys."

Utah is 9-12 all-time vs. USC, including 6-7 as a member of the Pac-12. Below is a look back at a few of the memorable games from the series, with a heavy emphasis on the last few seasons.

Oct. 24, 2015: USC 42, No. 3 Utah 24: The Utes were 6-0 at the midway point and headed toward College Football Playoff consideration until Trojans linebacker Cameron Smith intercepted Travis Wilson three times to help fuel a Coliseum upset under interim head coach Clay Helton. That Utes team eventually claimed a share of its first South Division crown, but lost the tiebreaker to USC, which went to the Pac-12 championship game.

Sept. 21, 2019: USC 30, No. 10 Utah 23: JT Daniels was already out for the season, and backup quarterback Kedon Slovis left early with a concussion, so third-string quarterback Matt Fink carved up the vaunted Utes defense for 351 yards and three touchdowns, pushing Utah's winless streak at the Coliseum to 96 years. Utah was the prohibitive favorite to win the South, which it later did by ripping off eight straight wins after this loss.

Nov. 21, 2020: USC 33, Utah 17: This game is noteworthy for two reasons. It was Utah's COVID season-opener after games against Arizona and UCLA were scratched because of testing and contact tracing. Once the game started, Cam Rising was lost for the season to a shoulder injury on the Utes' 14th offensive snap. South Carolina transfer Jake Bentley finished the game, then started the next four as Utah finished 3-2, opting out of bowl consideration before the Dec. 19 finale.

Oct. 9, 2021: Utah 42, USC 26: Thirteen days after Aaron Lowe's murder outside a house party in the Sugar House section of Salt Lake City, and two days before the team flew to Texas to attend Lowe's wake, Utah took it all out on the Trojans for their first win at the Coliseum. Rising, playing in his second game as the starter after Charlie Brewer's departure, announced his arrival, going 22-for-38 for 306 yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Oct. 15, 2022: No. 20 Utah 43, No. 7 USC 42: A week after a clunker at UCLA, Utah fell behind by 14 points three different times in the first half, but rallied behind 16 catches for 243 yards and a touchdown from tight end Dalton Kincaid and a 475-yard tour de force from Rising. His 1-yard keeper on fourth-and-goal at the 1, followed by a 2-point conversion keeper with 48 seconds remaining provided the final margin as the win inserted the Utes right back into the race to get to the Pac-12 championship game. In a legacy-enhancing performance, Rising finished 30-for-44 passing for 415 yards and two touchdowns, plus another 60 yards and a rushing touchdown on 11 carries.

Dec. 2, 2022: No. 11 Utah 47, No. 7 USC 24: Another early 14-point hole gave way to a barrage. A 23-point fourth quarter, highlighted by a 60-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Rising to tight end Thomas Yassmin, and a 53-yard touchdown run from running back Ja'Quinden Jackson helped deliver Utah's second consecutive Pac-12 championship and subsequent trip to the Rose Bowl. Rising, who grew up in Ventura, California, roughly 80 miles from USC's campus, was named game MVP after throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns on 22-for-34 passing.

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