Utes give Trojans a damaging blow
NO. 11 UTAH 47, NO. 4 SOUTHERN CALIF. 24
LAS VEGAS — No. 11 Utah pounded a limping, bloodied Caleb Williams and roared past No. 4 Southern California 47-24 on Friday night to win the Pac-12 championship and put USC’s College Football Playoff hopes in doubt.
The loss by the Trojans (11-2) could open the way for Ohio State (11-1) to take their spot in the playoffs. USC is fourth in the CFP rankings, the Buckeyes are one step behind.
Ohio State had to be Utah’s biggest fan. The Buckeyes move up in playoff consideration, with 12-0 Michigan at No. 2 with the Big Ten Championship Game today, that would give the Big Ten Conference two playoff teams for the first time. It also would extend the Pac-12’s playoff drought — Washington in 2016 is the last team from that conference to make the playoffs.
Utah (10-3) is heading to the Rose Bowl, but the Utes already were going there regardless of the outcome of the title game.
They are responsible for USC’s only losses, having
edged the Trojans 43-42 on Oct. 15 in Salt Lake City.
The Utes rolled up 533 yards of offense in the rematch, and Cam Rising passed for 310 yards and three touchdowns.
Williams threw for 363 yards and three TDs. He entered the game as the leading Heisman Trophy candidate, but wasn’t the same after getting injured in the first quarter.
The Trojans looked as if they were going to run away with the game, taking a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter behind some stellar play by Williams.
He appeared to hurt his left knee or leg in the first quarter on a 59-yard run in which he took a big hit at the end, and he suffered a bad cut on the pinky finger of his throwing hand. He spent most of the game limping.
After USC failed to pick up a fourth-and-8 from Utah’s 37-yard line, the Utes scored two touchdowns in the final 3:55 of the first half, and suddenly the game was tied at 17. Instead of a rout, the game was beginning to look like the shootout the Utes won in October.
The game took on that tone at times in the second half, but USC had no answer for how to slow down Utah, which outscored the Trojans 44-7 in overcoming that two-touchdown deficit.
CONFERENCE USA TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO 48, NORTH TEXAS 27
SAN ANTONIO — Frank Harris threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 49 yards and another score, lifting Texas-San Antonio to its second-consecutive Conference USA championship with a victory over North Texas at the Alamodome.
Texas-San Antonio knocked off North Texas for the second time in six weeks. In a game on Oct. 21, it took Harris’ 10-yard pass to De’Corian Clark with 15 seconds remaining to give UTSA a 31-27 victory.
Not wanting a repeat of its regular-season finale a week earlier in which UTSA found itself in a 24-0 hole against UTEP, the team came out firing from the start, scoring on the opening possession.
After falling behind 10-7, the Roadrunners (11-2), led by former Arkansas assistant coach Jeff Traylor, reeled off 17 unanswered points, including 10 in the final 1:12 of the first half to take a 24-10 lead at the break and never trailed again.
Harris and the offense, which has scored at least 30 points in 12 of 13 games this season, kept the pressure on, rolling up 571 yards of total offense. Harris had scoring passes of 32, 14, and 39 yards to senior Zakhari Franklin, and his fourth — a 16-yard toss to junior tight end Oscar Cardenas — sealed the victory with 4:07 left.
Junior quarterback Austin Aune, who engineered a scoring drive that got North Texas (7-6) within 34-27 early in fourth quarter, threw for 194 yards and score, but was picked off twice.