The Utah Utes slid to No. 14 in this week’s college football Coaches Poll, following a 42-24 loss to USC Saturday night.
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Baker Mayfield and the Sooners play Kansas and Iowa State next before finishing the season at No. 2 Baylor, against No. 4 TCU and at No. 14 Oklahoma State.
“Our main goal right now is to win the Pac-12 South, and we’re still in the driver’s seat right now, so, going into Monday that’s going to be huge for us to have that as motivation”, Covey said.
It was more than that. It was a morale boost for a program that was reeling from two consecutive losses and the dismissal of former head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Considering the caliber of opponent, the Trojans turned in their best defensive performance of the year. Jones and Davis combined for 139 yards rushing, and Smith led an aggressive defensive effort that limited Utah to 213 yards in the first three quarters.
“I don’t think that people understand how hard it is to win a game, and multiple games”, coach Jim Mora said.
Five years after Utah arrived at the Coliseum for its first game as a member of the Pac-12, the No. 3 Utes returned with a flawless record and the confidence it had the players to compete with any team in the conference.
Smith had a rare 100-yard return game by a non-kick return specialist.
“Tough to give them essentially three touchdowns on turnovers and hove to have a chance to win against a team of that caliber”, Whittingham said.
“We’ve seen it through the spring”, Helton said. “And fans in the Bay Area and L.A. identify with us more now that they have seen us”. He’s playing on a very, very high level. “It’s unbelievable for a freshman”.
Luke Falk threw for 514 yards and hit Gabe Marks on four of his five touchdown passes, pacing Washington State.
Not bad for Cameron Smith, not bad at all.
Smith squelched any hopes of a Utah comeback by picking off Wilson for a third time in the fourth quarter. The sophomore has 669 all-purpose yards in the past two games.
USC’s offense did its part in support of the defense. Senior quarterback Cody Kessler connected on his first nine passes and finished 21 of 28 for 264 yards. Smith-Schuster caught eight passes for 143 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 42-24 win. “He said we’ve got to take Booker out of the game and force the passing game”.
“We still have a one-game lead in the loss column in the South. That was a good football team we played at their stadium”.
USC lost starting center Max Tuerk in a loss against Washington two weeks ago, and his backup Toa Lobendahn may miss time as well.
The Beavers also had a chance to make an impact on 2018 in-state prospect Chase Cota, who could be one of the more highly recruited wide receivers prospects in the region for his year.
The first playoff rankings come out November. 3, a few days before those potential showdown games between LSU and Alabama and Clemson and Florida State. Utah kept a watchful eye on Jackson, who caught six passes for only 37 yards.
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No two plays illustrated USC’s physicality more than Vainuku’s 1-yard plunge and Kessler’s 1-yard sneak for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
