USC escapes after Utah's 2-point conversion for the win comes up short
Utah coach Kyle Wittingham didn’t want to go to overtime.
After Utah quarterback Troy Williams scored a touchdown from a yard out to cut No. 13 USC’s lead to 28-27 with 42 seconds left, Utah could have easily played for a tie and possibly overtime. It didn’t.
Wittingham kept his offense out on the field to go for the lead. It was a great idea. Utah led 21-7 early and weathered 21-straight points from USC. But Williams got stopped a yard short of the end zone and USC hung on for the one-point win.
The play was designed for Williams to throw back to his left after starting to roll right. But USC covered the play well. Williams scrambled around and looked for a running lane — while receiver Darren Carrington was open in the back of the end zone — and by the time he got to the corner, USC had the goal line blocked.
The win overshadows an ugly first-half performance for the Trojans. USC fumbled three times in the first half and all three were credited to quarterback Sam Darnold.
One of them was returned for a touchdown. As Darnold threw a swing pass to running back Ronald Jones, the pass hit Jones in the facemask and fell incomplete. Jones didn’t rush to pick it up, thinking it was a forward pass. It wasn’t. Utah’s Marquise Blair grabbed it and ran 18 yards for a touchdown.
The Trojans got their act together in the second half. Darnold finished the game 27-50 for 358 yards and three touchdowns. USC took the lead with 4:54 to go on an 11-yard run by Jones, who flipped into the end zone after getting hit.
Had Utah gotten the conversion and held on for the win the Utes would have been one of potentially two teams in the Pac-12 South with just one loss. Instead, that designation goes to USC while Utah is a game and a tiebreaker behind USC for first place.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
