USC vs Utah 2016: Who Were the Studs and Duds?

Sep 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; USC Trojans head coach Clay Helton prior to a NCAA football game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Who were the duds?

Turnovers: There are a lot of reasons USC lost to the Utes. The first is turnovers.

Justin Davis, Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones II each lost a fumble for the Trojans in the first half, giveaways that were particularly devastating because USC’s offense appeared dominant before each turnover.

Had USC come away with any form of points on those four drives the scoreline would look different.

Penalties: Having left the turnovers behind in the first half, the penalty bug struck the Trojans in the second half. As was the case against Stanford, it was the small penalties which did the most damage, like a false start setting USC back on a key drive to end the third quarter which ended in a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Of course it wasn’t just small moments of lost discipline which sank the Trojans. A needless pass interference penalty against Iman Marshall extended the Utes’ game-winning drive on third down.

Clay Helton: Helton cannot seem to escape questions about his fourth quarter punting decisions. For the second straight game he faced criticism for opting to punt the ball in enemy territory rather than attempt a fourth-and-short.

This week it was from the Utah 37-yard line with over five minutes left in the game with the Trojans clinging to a three-point lead. Helton wanted to pin the Utes deep and trusted his defense to stop them from there.

The problem was, the Trojan defense had given up touchdowns on the previous two drives and had been struggling to slow the Ute attack the whole game. Trusting them was a mistake.

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Clancy Pendergast: All the goodwill Pendergast may have returned to USC is fading fast. Against Alabama, the Trojan defense performed admirably but gave up big plays to contribute to a lopsided scoreline. There were positives to take still.

Against Stanford, the cracks began to show as Christian McCaffrey pounded the USC defense into the dirt. Still, he is a Heisman candidate and it could be passed off to some degree.

Against Utah, however, it became clear very quickly that Pendergast’s defense was not equipped to slow even the new-look Utes.

USC’s front never got push, whether defending the run or the pass. The Utes ran at will against a defense too often set in a nickel package. Pressure on the quarterback was non-existent and Pendergast’s penchant for eschewing substitutions only added to the troubles.