Football endures another heartbreaking loss to Utah
The Trojans were unable to get revenge in their fourth straight loss to the Utes.
By LEILA MACKENZIE
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The agony continues. Tonight, in four quarters of wildly contrasting football, the Trojans fell to the Utah Utes 34-32. After spoiling its College Football Playoff hopes last season, Utah has done it again as it hands USC its second consecutive loss.
Utah (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) kicked off the game with a frightening drive. In just over a minute, junior quarterback Bryson Barnes connected with sophomore safety Sione Vaki for a 53-yard touchdown. Vaki started the first five games of the season as a safety before transitioning to the offense last week. USC’s (6-2, 4-1) offense fired right back when redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd found the endzone on a 45-yard rush.
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Less than five minutes into the game, the score stood at 7 apiece. On the Trojans’ next offensive drive, redshirt senior wide receiver Tahj Washington hauled in a 51-yard pass from junior quarterback Caleb Williams to set up a quick 1-yard end-around score for freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch. Utah evened the score at 14 when Barnes took a keeper up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown.
Williams appeared to return to Heisman form when he completed the first-quarter 6/6 passing while averaging 11 yards per completion.
At the dawn of the second quarter, the setting sun sent a chill throughout the Coliseum and both offenses went cold. Utah put together one promising drive, but the Trojan defense forced a turnover-on-downs on 4th & 1 at the USC 17-yard line. The quarter ended scoreless as each team forced three punts and the score entering halftime was tied at 14.
The Trojans began the third quarter with a disappointing three-and-out and the Utes answered with a nine-play drive for a touchdown. As USC searched for its third score, Lloyd lost a fumble. The momentum appeared to shift in the Utes’ favor when Vaki capitalized off of the turnover on a 15-yard touchdown, increasing the Utah lead to 28-14.
After a much-needed field goal to get the Trojans back on the scoreboard, junior safety Calen Bullock reignited the Coliseum with a pick-six to open the final fifteen minutes of play.
Back-and-forth field goals kept the USC deficit at 5 points entering the final three minutes of play. The Trojan defense forced a vital three-and-out, and the crowd grew excited as the notoriously dangerous Branch waited to receive the punt. Branch’s 61-yard return stunned everyone in attendance, placing USC at the Utes’ 11-yard line. Williams scrambled into the end zone to give the Trojans a 1-point lead with just under two minutes remaining.
Utah would have the final two minutes to get into field goal range and, with 16 seconds remaining, the USC defense appeared to have the Utes stalled near midfield. In heartbreaking fashion, Bryson scrambled to the USC 19-yard line. The 26-yard gain lined Utah up for a chip-shot and, as time expired, it seamlessly converted the field goal.
The 34-32 defeat marks the Trojans’ first Pac-12 loss and places their chances of making the Pac-12 championship in jeopardy.
