Blackout Game Thoughts

Hey! Here are my thoughts as I said in the last post about the game between Utah and USC.

Game-winning drive

I've got to start off with the best part of the game. First off, props to coach Kyle Whittingham for going for it on 4th down twice. Utah was in field goal range and coach Whitt went for the first down and got it, twice. It was brilliant play calling. Then he decided not to call timeout as the clock was ticking below 40 seconds and trusted his quarterback to make the throw to win the game. Quarterback Troy Williams was throwing strikes over one of the top corners in the league in Adoree Jackson.

Utah's defense

This was by far the worst performance on defense. The defense made plays when needed and forced three fumbles, but there were a lot of wide open receivers. There were also huge holes right up the middle of our defensive line. These two things need to be tightened up if Utah expects to keep up with Cal's offense. Utah needs to definitely clean up the wide open pass over the middle deep portion of the field, which brings me to my next point.

USC's quarterback

USC's freshman quarterback, Sam Darnold, got his first start Friday. He played incredibly well for a game in which Clay Helton kept him as mostly a game manager. He threw for 253 yards on 18 of 26 passing. He didn't throw any touchdowns, but he rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown. He could be the real deal. Maybe this will also help Helton's career at USC too.

Utah's offense

Utah's offense was stellar in the second half for sure, but struggled after its first drive to start the game. Utah ran the ball on its first 12 plays resulting in a touchdown. Freshman running back Zack Moss played great excluding one fumble. But I thought he was outplayed by Sophomore Armand Shyne this week. Moss had more yards, but Shyne ran with power and he ran harder than Moss this week.

The quarterback play was phenomenal in the second half. After the first drive of the second half, Utah would score a touchdown on every drive after that. The final three drives were 10 plays and 85 yards, 11 plays and 75 yards, and 15 plays and 93 yards. What a way to end the game. Utah's offense is becoming a complete team, and that should be scary for the rest of the Pac-12.