Trojans get clipped by the Utes

(News4usonline) – Every week in college football matters. Every week you’re playing for a college football playoff spot. And every week, a team loses and they fall out of contention for that possibility. Hopefully, that’s not the case for the USC Trojans.

For six weeks, the Trojans have been riding high, chalking up one win after another and living the dream of being one of the best teams in college football. Then they ran into a black and red wave called the Utah Utes. This college football matchup turned out to be as exciting and drama-filled as they come with Utah prevailing, 43-42.

If you look at the stat sheet, the Trojans put up some remarkable numbers against the Utah Utes in their Pac-12 Conference football game. Quarterback Caleb Williams continued his stellar play this season, passing for 381 yards and five touchdowns.

The running game wasn’t too bad themselves, gaining another 218 yards on the ground. If you were to rack them, that would be 599 yards in total offense that the Trojans put up against the Utes, a team highlighted by the media as the preseason favorites to win the Pac-12.

With the kind of numbers that the No. 6 Trojans were able to muster against Utah, it would seem that would be enough to overtake the Utes.

Cameron Rising, Utah’s quarterback, had something to say about that. Coming off a road loss to UCLA, and having already been saddled with two Pac-12 Conference defeats, Rising and the Utes could not afford a third loss to stay in contention for a prime college bowl spot and postseason play.

? Sack Lake City pic.twitter.com/ua5gnWnBUp

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 16, 2022

Rising did all that he could do to make sure his team was going to come away with the win, including running into the endzone for the Utes’ last touchdown, and capping the drive off using his feet to convert a two-point play to give his team a 43-42 lead late in the ballgame.

With a point tug-o-war going on all game, Utah finally was able to come up with a stop at the end of the ballgame to hand Williams and the Trojans their first loss of the season (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12 Conference).

Speaking of Williams, the sophomore simply balled out against Utah. Besides his 381 yards passing, Williams also ran the football for 97 yards on eight carries. If was not for 40 yards he surrendered on the four times that he was sacked, his numbers on the day would have been astounding. As it was, Williams still had an extraordinary afternoon against the defense of the Utes.

As great as Williams played, Rising played like a man on fire, throwing for 415 yards and two touchdowns, while adding three more scores on the ground on 60 yards rushing. And when his team needed him to step up and deliver, Rising did just that. However, the Utes’ upset win over the Trojans was far from being a one-man show. Rising had help.

He got plenty of help from wide receiver Dalton Kincaid, who was simply unguardable all afternoon. For the game, Kincaid was targeted by Rising 15 times and came away with 15 catches for 217 yards and one touchdown.

Featured Image Caption: SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 15: USC Trojans wide receiver Terrell Bynum (0) spins from Utah Utes cornerback Clark Phillips III (1) during a game between the USC Trojans and the University of Utah Utes on October 15, 2022 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah (Photo by Boyd Ivey/Icon Sportswire)