One of the biggest games on the 2022 Pac-12 conference schedule takes center stage on Saturday night as No. 7 USC puts its undefeated record on the line against No. 20 Utah. Both teams entered the year as popular picks to win the conference, but only the Trojans have been able to make it to this highly-anticipated showdown without a loss in league play.
Utah fell at UCLA last week, dropping to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play. The offense was slow to get going and by the time the Utes reached the end zone for the first time they did so chasing a double-digit deficit that would linger throughout the rest of the game in an eventual 42-32 defeat. USC, meanwhile, relied on its defense to shut out Washington State in the second half as Travis Dye led the Trojans to a 30-14 home win to improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play. That brings these two teams into Saturday night’s clash in extremely different places, with Utah hoping to blow the Pac-12 race wide open by handing the Trojans their first loss while USC can elevate itself itself from conference title contender to legitimate College Football Playoff contender with a win.
USC vs. Utah: Need to know
Caleb Williams looking for a bounce back: The full body of work for USC’s star quarterback is strong. Williams’ 14 touchdowns to one interception is the best ratio in the conference and he ranks in the top three in the Pac-12 in both yards per attempt and passer rating. But the six-game sample size for Williams as a Trojan includes a pair of outliers, as Williams threw for less than 200 yards and completed less than 52% of his passes in the 17-14 win at Oregon State and last week against Washington State. The emergence of Dorian Thompson-Robinson as competition for being the Pac-12’s best quarterback provides a great foil as Williams takes on the same defense that UCLA just carved up one week ago. Williams has been near the top of the Heisman Trophy odds board for a few weeks, so expect the success (or lack thereof) of USC’s offense to be a key data point in stacking these two star quarterbacks against each other for QB1 honors at a conference and national level.
A Pac-12 title race elimination game: Though the Pac-12 officially did away with division play this season, this head-to-head represented the top tier in the Pac-12 South over the last half decade. USC and Utah combined to win every Pac-12 South title since 2017,…
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