Cal Sports Report

Pac-12 Championship Game: Utah Wins, Knocks USC Out of CFP

Trojans QB Caleb Williams hobbled in second half by leg injury as No. 11 Utes overcome early 17-3 deficit

Jake Curtis

No. 11 Utah captured its second straight Pac-12 championship and knocked No. 4 USC out of the College Football Playoff by beating the Trojans 47-24 Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

With the loss, USC is unlikely to remain in the top four of the CFP rankings, which means No. 5 Ohio State (11-1) is likely to replace the Trojans as the final team in the four-team College Football Playoff. It would require an odd set of results on Saturday and a surprising decision by the CFP committee for the Trojans to get to the College Football Playoff after this loss.

Utah overcame an early 17-3 deficit to get the win, which sends Utah to the Rose Bowl for the second straight season.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who was oustanding in the first quarter, was hobbled by a left leg injury throughout the second half. That allowed Utah to apply pressure on Williams, who did not have his typical escapability or running threat. He was limited to pocket passing and was sacked seven times.

Williams entered the game as the Heisman Trophy favorite and it remains to be seen whether the loss and his performance prevent him from winning it.

Instead it was Utah quarterback Cameron Rising who was the star, as he was in the earlier 43-42 win over USC in October. He passed for 310 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions on Friday.

The summary of Friday's game

NO. 11 UTAH 47, NO. 4 USC 24

RECORDS: USC (11-2), UTAH (10-3)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cameron Rising. He was 22-of-34 for 310 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 18 yards.

TURNING POINT: USC led 17-3 in the second quarter when the Trojans recovered a fumble by the Utes' Jaylen Dixon at the Utah 39-yard line.  The Trojans had scored on their first three possessions and another USC touchdown at that point might have created an insurmountable lead. But the Trojans gained only 2 yards on four plays, including Caleb Williams' incompletion on fourth-and-8. Utah took over at its 37-yard line and drove 63 yards for a touchdown that reduced the USC lead to 17-10.

HIT OF THE GAME:

KEY PLAY 1: On its first offensive possession of the game, USC faced a fourth-and-1 at its own 45-yard line. USC's Caleb Williams ran 3 yards for a first down.

KEY PLAY 2: On the next play, Caleb Williams threw a 49-yard pass to a wide-open Tahj Washington, putting the ball at the Utah 2-yard line.

KEY PLAY 3: On the next play, Williams threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tahj Washington, giving USC a 7-0 lead with 11:28 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 4: After Utah fails to score a touchdown after getting a first down at the USC 5-yard line, Jadon Redding kicked a 25-yard field goal. That reduced USC's lead to 7-3 with 6:10 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 5: Caleb Williams ran 59 yards to the Utah 11-yard line.

KEY PLAY 6: On that same drive, USC faced a fourth-and-2 from the Utah 3-yard line, and Celb Williams threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Raleek Brown. That gave USC a 14-3 lead with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 7: USC got a first down at the Utah 3-yard line, but fails to score a touchdown. Denis Lynch kicked a 20-yard field goal to give USC a 17-3 lead with 12:08 left in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 8: USC's Bryson Shaw recovered a fumble by Utah's Jaylen Dixon at the Utah 39-yard line with 11:56 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 9: Utah prevented USC from scoring after the turnover, forcing an incompletion from Caleb Williams on a fourth-and-8 play from the Utah 37-yard line.

KEY PLAY 10: On a fourth-and-2 play from the USC 18-yard line, Utah's Cameron Rising ran 4 yards for a first down with just under six minutes left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 11: On the same drive, Utah's Ja'Quinden Jackson ran 8 yards for a touchdown that reduced the USC lead to 17-10 with 3:55 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 12: Utah's Cameron Rising threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Dixon with two seconds left in the first half to tie the score 17-17.  It completed an 81-yard drive that started with 1:40 left in the half.

KEY PLAY 13: On a third-and-19 play from the Utah 43-yard line, Utah's Cameron Rising completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks, who broke a tackle at the USC 45-yard line and ran the rest of the way for the score. That gave Utah a 24-17 lead with 10:33 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 14: Jadon Redding kicked a 35-yard field goal to increase Utah's lead to 27-17 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 15: Caleb Williams avoided a tackle and threw a 28-yard completion to Brenden Rice, advancing the ball to the Utah 23-yard line.

KEY PLAY 16: On the same drive, Caleb Williams threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Mario Williams to cut the Utah lead to 27-24 with 11 minutes left.

KEY PLAY 17: Utah's Cameron Rising threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to tight end Thomas Yassmin to give Utah a 34-24 lead with 10:08 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 18: On a fourth-and-3 play from the USC 32-yard line, Caleb Williams completed a 48-yard pass to Jordan Addision, moving the ball to the Utah 20-yard line with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 19: Later in that same drive, Utah's R.J. Hubert intercepted a Caleb Williams pass at the Utes' 10-yard line and returned it to the Utah 39-yard line.

KEY PLAY 20: Utah's Ja'Quinden Jackson ran 53 yards for a touchdown that gave the Utes a 40-24 lead (extra point missed) with 5:29 remaining.

KEY PLAY 21: On a fourth-down play, Caleb Williams is sacked and fumbled. It was recovered by Utah's Lander Barton at the USC 38-yard line with 3:24 left.

KEY PLAY 22: Micah Bernard ran for a 23-yard touchdown to put Utah aherad 47-24.

NOTE: USC Brett Neilon had to be taken off the field on a cart with an apparent serious leg injury in the fourth quarter.

STAT OF THE GAME: USC quarterback Caleb Williams was 8-for-9 for 110 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, when he also rushed for 76 yards. After that he completed 20-of-32 passes for 253 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed for negative-55 yards after the first quarter as he was sacked seven times.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Utah finished with 533 yards of offense, and recorded seven sacks on defense.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Utah finished with 223 rushing yards; USC had 56.

WHAT IT MEANS:  Utah won its second straight Pac-12 title, and will head to the Rose Bowl.  USC likely lost its chance to be in the College Football Playoff. It will be the sixth straight season that the Pac-12 will not have a team in the CFP.

CFP MATCHUPS ANNOUNCEMENT: The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed in Sunday's College Football Selection Show on ESPN starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Following the announcement of the two CFP semifinal matchups, the bowl matchups for the teams that don't make the playoff will be announced.

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Cover photo of Kyle Whittingham is by Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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