Utah 47, Southern Cal 24
(AP Photo/Steve Marcus)
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - No. 12 Utah pounded a limping, bloodied Caleb Williams and roared past No. 4 Southern California 47-24 to win the Pac-12 Championship and put USC's College Football Playoff hopes in doubt.
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, and wasn't the same after a sterling first quarter in which the Trojans outgained Utah in total yards 194-70, and Williams had both touchdown passes.
After USC (11-2) 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.
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.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
A announced sellout crowd of 61,195 made this the largest for a neutral-site Pac-12 Championship. It beat the previous record of 58,476 fans. who watched Southern California-Stanford in Santa Clara, California, in 2015
December 2, 2022
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Utah | USC |
| USC |
TD |
11:28 |
Tahj Washington 2 yd pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch kick) |
0 |
7 |
| Utah |
FG |
6:10 |
Jadon Redding 25 yd FG |
3 |
7 |
| USC |
TD |
2:52 |
Raleek Brown 3 yd pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch kick) |
3 |
14 |
| Second Quarter |
Utah | USC |
| USC |
FG |
12:08 |
Denis Lynch 20 yd FG |
3 |
17 |
| Utah |
TD |
3:55 |
Ja'Quinden Jackson 8 yd run (Jadon Redding kick) |
10 |
17 |
| Utah |
TD |
0:02 |
Jaylen Dixon 4 yd pass from Cameron Rising (Jadon Redding kick) |
17 |
17 |
| Third Quarter |
Utah | USC |
| Utah |
TD |
10:33 |
Money Parks 57 yd pass from Cameron Rising (Jadon Redding kick) |
24 |
17 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Utah | USC |
| Utah |
FG |
14:56 |
Jadon Redding 35 yd FG |
27 |
17 |
| USC |
TD |
10:52 |
Mario Williams 12 yd pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch kick) |
27 |
24 |
| Utah |
TD |
10:08 |
Thomas Yassmin 60 yd pass from Cameron Rising (Jadon Redding kick) |
34 |
24 |
| Utah |
TD |
5:29 |
Ja'Quinden Jackson 53 yd run (missed kick) |
40 |
24 |
| Utah |
TD |
1:52 |
Micah Bernard 23 yd run (Jadon Redding kick) |
47 |
24 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Utah |
USC |
| First downs |
25 |
19 |
| Rushing |
11 |
5 |
| Passing |
12 |
14 |
| Penalty |
2 |
0 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-12, 42% |
1-12, 8% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-1, 100% |
3-5, 60% |
| Rushes-Yards |
35-223 |
27-56 |
| Passing Yards |
310 |
363 |
| Return Yards |
29 |
68 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
22-34-0 |
28-41-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
1--9 |
7--69 |
| Punts |
3 |
4 |
| Punts-Average |
43.7 |
41.5 |
| Fumbles Lost |
2-1 |
2-1 |
| Penalties - Yards |
5-45 |
4-39 |
| Time of Possession |
29:47 |
30:13 |
| Utah Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Rising |
22 |
34 |
310 |
3 |
0 |
| USC Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Williams |
28 |
41 |
363 |
3 |
1 |
| Utah Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Jackson |
13 |
105 |
8.1 |
2 |
| M. Bernard |
11 |
88 |
8.0 |
1 |
| C. Rising |
8 |
18 |
2.3 |
0 |
| N. Johnson |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| J. Dixon |
2 |
5 |
2.5 |
0 |
| USC Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| A. Jones |
15 |
35 |
2.3 |
0 |
| C. Williams |
12 |
21 |
1.8 |
0 |
| Utah Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| M. Parks |
4 |
88 |
22.0 |
1 |
| T. Yassmin |
2 |
81 |
40.5 |
1 |
| J. Dixon |
6 |
55 |
9.2 |
1 |
| M. Bernard |
5 |
41 |
8.2 |
0 |
| D. Kincaid |
4 |
40 |
10.0 |
0 |
| N. Johnson |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| USC Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Washington |
6 |
93 |
15.5 |
1 |
| J. Addison |
5 |
65 |
13.0 |
0 |
| M. Williams |
3 |
51 |
17.0 |
1 |
| B. Rice |
3 |
42 |
14.0 |
0 |
| A. Jones |
4 |
40 |
10.0 |
0 |
| K. Ford |
2 |
38 |
19.0 |
0 |
| K. Hudson |
1 |
17 |
17.0 |
0 |
| L. McRee |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| D. Barlow |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| R. Brown |
2 |
-1 |
-.5 |
1 |
| Utah Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| R. Hubert |
1 |
29 |
| USC Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Utah Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| J. Bouwmeester |
3 |
131 |
43.7 |
| USC Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| A. Sleep-Dalton |
4 |
166 |
41.5 |
| Utah Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| USC Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Utah Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| USC Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. Brown |
4 |
91 |
22.8 |
| T. Nomura |
1 |
-23 |
-23.0 |
| Utah Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| USC Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
