USC
Utah
Players Mentioned
No. 18 USC Football Hosts Defending Pac-12 Champion No. 14 Utah
October 16, 2023 | Football
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM
*USC returns home to the Coliseum to take on Utah. It will be shown live nationally on FOX.
*Last season, Lincoln Riley's Trojans went 0-2 against the Utes (once in Salt Lake City and once in Las Vegas in the Pac-12 Championship game).
*In its last 10 games against the Utes, USC is 4-6.
*USC is ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
NOTRE DAME RECAP
*Defending Heisman Trophy winner QB Caleb Williams went 23-of-37 for 199 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs in a tough loss against Notre Dame in South Bend.
*This is the first time in Williams' career that he has thrown 3 INTs.
*USC didn't score a TD in the first half of play. This the is second time this has ever happened in the Lincoln Riley era, with the first occurring in a win at Oregon State on Sept. 24, 2022.
*USC totaled 302 yards of offense tonight. This is the fewest number of offensive yards put up by the Trojans in the last 2 seasons.
*With the exception of the kickoff return for a TD, Notre Dame only had one scoring drive of over 50 yards.
*Three of their six scoring drives were 12 yards or less.
*RB MarShawn Lloyd scored a 31-yard rushing TD in the third quarter, the first TD of the night. He has now tallied 5 TDs on the season. He recorded 46 rushing yards on 8 attempts against the Fighting Irish.
*WR Brenden Rice scored on a 7-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter. He now has 8 TDs on the season. He wrapped up the night with 2 receptions for 18 yards.
*WR Michael Jackson III led the team with 6 receptions for 51 yards.
*The Trojan defense held the Fighting Irish to just 251 total offensive yards, the fewest yards gained by an opponent the entire season.
*ILB Tackett Curtis led the Trojans with 6 tackles tonight, with 1 TFL, the only one of the game.
*CB Christian Roland-Wallace recorded 3 PBUs.
*PK Denis Lynch was 2-for-2 in FGs tonight (25 and 48 yards).
CALEB BY THE NUMBERS
*This season, Williams is 142-of-203 for 2,007 yards with 23 TDs and 4 INTs. He has also rushed for 116 yards this season with 6 TDs – all within 24 quarters of football throughout 7 games, including 3OTs against Arizona.
*Compared to his first 7 games of his Heisman winning season in 2022 (147-of-230 for 1,971 yards with 19 TDs and 1 INT and 235 rushing yards with 3 TDs – playing 27 quarters of football), Williams has thrown 4 more TDs through 7 games this year.
*He is currently points responsible for (178), points responsible for per game (25.4) and passing TDs (23), No. 4 in the nation in passing efficiency (187.0), No. 7 in the nation in passing yards (2,021) and yards per pass attempt (9.96).
*He is the first FBS player in the last 25 years to throw for 6 passing TDs in a game for multiple schools.
Last 6 games
| Total Yards | Passing TDs | Rushing TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs. SJSU* | 276 | 4 | 0 |
| vs. Nevada* | 361 | 5 | 0 |
| vs. Stanford# | 302 | 3 | 1 |
| at Arizona State | 332 | 3 | 2 |
| at Colorado | 415 | 6 | 0 |
| vs. Arizona | 260 | 1 | 3 |
| at Notre Dame | 191 | 1 | 0 |
*played 3 quarters
#played 2 quarters
RILEY'S ELECTRIC OFFENSE
*The Trojan offense is No. 2 in the nation for scoring offense (47.3), No. 4 in the nation for first downs offense (174), No. 5 in the nation for team passing efficiency (181.90), No. 8 in the nation for passing offense (332.9) and No. 9 in the nation in total offense (491.7).
BREATHTAKING BRANCH
*WR Zachariah Branch continues to impress the college football world with his shifty moves and electric returns. Against Stanford, he returned a punt for a 75-yard TD in the second quarter . He had a 96- yard kickoff return for a TD vs. San Jose State on Aug. 26.
*He also has 2 TD receptions this season and is the first Trojan since Adoree' Jackson in 2016 to have a punt return and kickoff return for a TD, as well as at least one receiving TD in the same season. Jackson had 2 punt returns and 2 kickoff returns for TDs and 1 TD reception during the 2016 season.
*Since 1971 (when records are available) Branch is one of just 3 USC players to accomplish the feat, joining Jackson and Curtis Conway (1992 – 1 kickoff return TD, 1 punt return TD, 5 rec TD). He also had 4 receptions for 30 yards and 1 carry for 2 rushing yards against Stanford.
*Branch is currently No. 2 in the nation in kickoff return TDs (1) and punt return TDs (1).
MORE NATIONAL RANKINGS
*USC is tied for No. 3 in the nation in tackles for loss with 58.0 and is tied for No. 7 in the nation in sacks with 22.0.
UTAH SCOUTING REPORT
*The Utah Utes are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 Conference play.
*They are coming off a 34-14 win over California at home.
*QB Cam Rising, 2022 Pac-12 Championship MVP, hasn't played a snap this season due to injury.
*Both Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson have played QB in 5 games this season.
*Barnes earned the start in Utah's most recent game against Cal and went 15-of-21 for 128 yards and no TDs.
*RB Ja'Quinden Jackson (61 carries for 336 yards for 1 TD) is Utah's top back.
*QB Nate Johnson leads the team in rushing TDs with 3. •WR Mikey Matthews is Utah's top pass catcher with 21 receptions for 202 yards and 0 TDs.
*Only 3 Ute receivers have caught TD passes this season: WR Money Parks (2 TDs), TE Thomas Yassmin (1 TD) and TE Landen King (1 TD).
*S Cole Bishop and S Sione Vaki lead the team with 32 tackles.
*DE Jonah Elliss is the top sack man for the Utes with 9.0 sacks for minus 77 yards.
*S Cole Bishop and LB Lander Barton have each collected 2 INTs this season while, S Sione Vaki, LB Karene Reid and CB Zemaniah Vaughn each have 1.
*Two Ute kickers have kicked field goals this season: Cole Becker is 5-of-7 with a long of 51, and Joey Cheek is 1-of-2 with a long of 37.
RANKINGS
*USC is ranked No. 18 in the latest AP Poll and 16th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
*Utah is ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll and 14th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
SERIES
*USC holds a 13-9 record over Utah, including 9-2 in Los Angeles.
*Since Utah joined the Pac-12, Troy is 7-6 versus the Utes.
VERSUS PAC-12 CONFERENCE
*USC has won 69.9% (493-204-29) of its games against current Pac-12 opponents (does not include 9 wins later vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 502-204-29, 70.3%).
IN OCTOBER
*USC has a 317-126-19 (.707) all-time record while playing in the month of October (not including 5 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 322-126-19, .710).
IN COLISEUM
*USC has a 464-146-27 (.750) all-time record in the Coliseum since the stadium opened in 1923 (not including 6 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record: 470-146-27, .752). USC's 642 games played in the Coliseum (including the 6 vacated wins) is the third most that any school has played in its home stadium (behind Georgia Tech's 720 in Bobby Dodd Stadium and Tennessee's 647 in Neyland Stadium).
USC-UTAH CONNECTIONS
*USC running backs coach Kiel McDonald spent five seasons (2017-2021) as Utah's running backs coach.
*USC has 3 players from Utah (QB Jake Jensen of Pleasant Grove HS, ILB Mason Cobb of Provo HS and TE Carson Tabaracci of Park City HS), while Utah has 29 Californians on its roster.
*USC WR Brenden Rice and Utah K Cole Becker were teammates at Colorado in 2021.
*USC RUSH Romello Height and Utah TE Landen King were teammates at Auburn in 2021.
*USC CB Jacobe Covington and Utah LB Josh Calvert were both at Washington in 2020.
*USC RB Austin Jones and Utah LB Levani Damuni were teammates at Stanford in 2020 and 2021.
*USC TE Carson Tabaracci transferred to USC in the fall of 2022 from Utah after spending the spring of 2022 with the Utes.
*Utah S Briton Allen played for USC from 2019-2022.
*Utah WR Munir McClain played for USC from 2019-2020.
*Utah WR Mycah Pittman is the younger brother of former Trojan WR Michael Pittman Jr.
*DL Solomon Tuliaupupu's father, Turnbull, was an offensive lineman at Southern Utah (2000-01) and Solomon spent part of his youth in Utah.
*USC CB Fabian Ross, RUSH Garrett Pomerantz, WR Zachariah Branch and S Zion Branch all prepped at Bishop Gorman high school in Nevada along with Utah OL Falcon Kaumatule and DE Jonah Lea'ea.
*WR Ty Shamblin and P/PK Garth White were high school teammates with Utah LB Josh Calvert at Oaks Christian high school.
*USC DL Korey Foreman and Utah LB Owen Chambliss both prepped at Centennial HS in Corona, Calif.
*USC SNP Nathan Weneta was a high school teammate with Utah kicker Joey Cheek at Cathedral Catholic high school.
*USC OL Kilian O'Conner and Utah S Ben Durham both prepped at Santa Margarita Catholic high school.
*Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is related by marriage to former USC OLB-S Su'a Cravens (2013- 15), who is now part of the Trojans' radio broadcast team.
*Utah men's basketball assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum was the director of operations for the USC men's basketball team in 2005 and 2006.
