All the players are aware there could be a few sort of hangover effect from defeat, but they will need to make sure they fully recover from the past weekend and continue on just as before.
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“My guess is there probably won’t be any undefeated teams in the Power 5 at the end of the year”, Whittingham said during his weekly press conference Monday afternoon. That total included more than 20 minutes of possession in the second half, when the Trojans expertly protected a double-digit lead.
“I didn’t know he had the juice in him to take it back to the house”, Smith-Schuster said. The No. 3 team in the country getting blown out by a team that let go of its coach less than two weeks before that game shows how foolhardy an exercise it is to try and predict how everything will play out.
Utah remains ahead of the rest of the Pac-12 South with just one conference loss, but a lead that would have approached insurmountable with a victory Saturday is suddenly tenuous. “We’ve got to be at our absolute best this week to have a chance”.
“Can’t do nothing about that when it’s a fast guy”, he added. However, Smith closed fast and stepped in front of Britain, snatching the ball from the air and rumbling 41 yards to the Utah 4-yard line.
About a week ago, USC was dealing with losing their head coach, Steve Sarkisian, due in large part to his off the field issues.
That was never more evident, the level of control of line of scrimmage, than in the second half.
“Couldn’t tell you”, Whittingham said. USC is now ranked 15th in the F/+ ratings, and it could jump all the way to the top 10 this week.
While Utah epitomizes the ideal of a non-marquee program reaching great heights under firm coaching guidance and steady growth, USC is becoming the epitome of a resource-rich program undone by inconsistency and weak leadership – but there is still time to save the season.
In fact, Smith leads the team with 62 tackles through seven games and is on pace to become the first true freshman to lead USC in tackles. Workhorse RB Devontae Booker is Utah’s offensive foundation. UCLA, Arizona State and USC all sit just one loss behind Utah, and with UCLA still to play both Utah and USC and the various head-to-head tiebreakers involved, all four teams are still very much in the running. Cravens is the Trojans’ most dependable defensive player, although somewhat inconsistent.
USC: WR Adoree Jackson. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox agrees: “Their running back runs angry”, he said.
Iowa has, perhaps, the easiest route with just Minnesota (4-3, 1-2) now holding a winning record among its five remaining regular season opponents, but the Hawkeyes would likely face either Ohio State or Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game. Utes quarterback Travis Wilson tried threading the needle on a third-and-three near their own 40.
USC has been a mess this season. USC sophomore WR JuJu Smith-Schuster ranked first in the Pac-12 and fifth nationally in receiving yards at 126.3 per game.
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For the second time in three games, USC lost its starting center to a season-ending knee injury.
