University Southern California Trojans
6-Points: USC 28, Utah 27
October 14, 2017 | Football, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
USC remains undefeated at the Coliseum under head coach Clay Helton.
USC seizes control of the Pac-12 South after a dramatic comeback victory over Utah.
Click here for the recap and final stats.
2nd Half First
Trailing 21-7 at the half, head coach Clay Helton delivered an impassioned speech to his team. "This half is going to define who we are as a football team," he told the Trojans. They responded with a 98-yard touchdown drive, which "set the tone for the second half." Ultimately, USC took its first lead with 4:54 to go when Ronald Jones II flipped into the end zone. "I was like, 'I should jump now, now, now.' But it was already too late. I had crossed the pylon," Jones laughed at his acrobatic score. Utah promptly returned the favor with a touchdown drive of its own before the Trojans sealed victory by stuffing Utes QB Troy Williams on a two-point conversion attempt. "We just keep fighting," CB Ajene Harris summed it up. "Fight on."
About that First Half
The Trojans only had themselves to blame for the first half deficit. Despite moving the ball well offensively, they could not cash in the yards for points thanks to three fumbles, including one returned for a touchdown. "It was not anything the defense was doing," said Jones. "They are a good bunch, but we were stopping ourselves." On the defensive side, penalties and missed tackles were racking up quickly. "We were playing ourselves in the first half," said DE Christian Rector. "We were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot."
Riding the Rollercoaster
USC QB Sam Darnold was in the middle of everything good and everything bad for the Trojans on Saturday night. He had a nightmare first quarter, officially credited with all three fumbles. "I just told him, 'Take a deep breath. Just make one play at a time,'" Helton said. In the second half, Darnold was pure magic, using his feet and his arm to orchestrate the comeback. He "could not have a mistake in the second half to be able to accomplish what we needed to do," Helton said about Darnold. "He couldn't play any better than he did." Darnold finished with 358 yards passing and 3 TDs.
Started on D
The defense made a key to stop to begin the second half rally and then held the Utes scoreless until the final drive. "We came out there with an attitude," Rector said. "We knew we were going to have a chance." LB Cameron Smith led the way with 16 tackles and his fourth career interception (all against Utah in the Coliseum). Rector added two more sacks to his growing total, while the Trojans four-man rush consistently harassed Williams.
One Play
In the end, it came down to one single play, and the Trojans made it. "There was no doubt in my mind that he was going for it," Helton said about Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham's decision to go for two and the win. "Clancy [Pendergast] made the perfect call." Utes QB Troy Williams was tough to bring down all game long, but CB Ajene Harris made the telling tackle. "I was waiting for something to come in my area and nothing came in my area," Harris explained. "I saw Troy trying to run it in, so I came up with a good tackle for the team."
Solutions
Over the last few weeks, the USC offense has been inconsistent as the passing game searched for weapons and the running backs found little room to work. While turnovers kept the Trojans from exploding on the scoreboard, they racked up 532 yards of offense against the third best defense in the Pac-12. "We were throwing the ball well, so the defense started backing up and that just opened up more running lanes," said Jones, who ran for 111 yards and a TD. RS freshman Tyler Vaughns continued his emergence with 6 catches for 65 yards, including a massive one-handed grab on fourth down. TE Tyler Petite added 3 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs, and TE Josh Falo grabbed his second score in as many weeks.
Click here for the recap and final stats.
2nd Half FirstTrailing 21-7 at the half, head coach Clay Helton delivered an impassioned speech to his team. "This half is going to define who we are as a football team," he told the Trojans. They responded with a 98-yard touchdown drive, which "set the tone for the second half." Ultimately, USC took its first lead with 4:54 to go when Ronald Jones II flipped into the end zone. "I was like, 'I should jump now, now, now.' But it was already too late. I had crossed the pylon," Jones laughed at his acrobatic score. Utah promptly returned the favor with a touchdown drive of its own before the Trojans sealed victory by stuffing Utes QB Troy Williams on a two-point conversion attempt. "We just keep fighting," CB Ajene Harris summed it up. "Fight on."
About that First Half
The Trojans only had themselves to blame for the first half deficit. Despite moving the ball well offensively, they could not cash in the yards for points thanks to three fumbles, including one returned for a touchdown. "It was not anything the defense was doing," said Jones. "They are a good bunch, but we were stopping ourselves." On the defensive side, penalties and missed tackles were racking up quickly. "We were playing ourselves in the first half," said DE Christian Rector. "We were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot."
Riding the Rollercoaster
USC QB Sam Darnold was in the middle of everything good and everything bad for the Trojans on Saturday night. He had a nightmare first quarter, officially credited with all three fumbles. "I just told him, 'Take a deep breath. Just make one play at a time,'" Helton said. In the second half, Darnold was pure magic, using his feet and his arm to orchestrate the comeback. He "could not have a mistake in the second half to be able to accomplish what we needed to do," Helton said about Darnold. "He couldn't play any better than he did." Darnold finished with 358 yards passing and 3 TDs.
Started on D
The defense made a key to stop to begin the second half rally and then held the Utes scoreless until the final drive. "We came out there with an attitude," Rector said. "We knew we were going to have a chance." LB Cameron Smith led the way with 16 tackles and his fourth career interception (all against Utah in the Coliseum). Rector added two more sacks to his growing total, while the Trojans four-man rush consistently harassed Williams.
One Play
In the end, it came down to one single play, and the Trojans made it. "There was no doubt in my mind that he was going for it," Helton said about Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham's decision to go for two and the win. "Clancy [Pendergast] made the perfect call." Utes QB Troy Williams was tough to bring down all game long, but CB Ajene Harris made the telling tackle. "I was waiting for something to come in my area and nothing came in my area," Harris explained. "I saw Troy trying to run it in, so I came up with a good tackle for the team."
Solutions
Over the last few weeks, the USC offense has been inconsistent as the passing game searched for weapons and the running backs found little room to work. While turnovers kept the Trojans from exploding on the scoreboard, they racked up 532 yards of offense against the third best defense in the Pac-12. "We were throwing the ball well, so the defense started backing up and that just opened up more running lanes," said Jones, who ran for 111 yards and a TD. RS freshman Tyler Vaughns continued his emergence with 6 catches for 65 yards, including a massive one-handed grab on fourth down. TE Tyler Petite added 3 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs, and TE Josh Falo grabbed his second score in as many weeks.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
CB
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TB
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TE
/ Football
DL
/ Football
ILB
/ Football
WR
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