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Los Angeles • How reliant on winning the turnover battle had Utah been in going 6-0?
As Travis Wilson threw four interceptions in Saturday's 42-24 loss to USC, he threw that into sharp relief.
Take away Utah's three or more takeaways against Michigan, Utah State and Cal, where does it stand?
Give away a giveaway or two against Arizona State, and now what?
Utah got a glimpse of what life can be like when it's the other team that isn't waiting its turn. Senior quarterback Travis Wilson had been a reliable caretaker of the ball, but USC picked him off four times. Utah's defense had been as opportunistic as any, but it got few and took none.
"That really was the difference in the game," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Our inability to generate a takeaway and their ability to get the takeaway, and we credit them. They're good athletes and good players."
True freshman inside linebacker Cameron Smith became the first Trojan since Jason Oliver in 1991 to record three interceptions in a game.
As he explained it, "I kept feeling the people behind me and picking up routes as quickly as possible. When the ball was coming, I just thought, 'Catch the ball.' "
Said USC quarterback Cody Kessler, whose own line was untarnished: "He's being modest, but those picks, those won us the game. The offensive line did great, the defensive line did great, but the momentum changed, and what Cam did tonight won us the game."
Asked whether Wilson had been "pressing," Whittingham pondered it briefly and decided that he hadn't been.
On one of Smith's interceptions, Whittingham said, one of Utah's receivers was blocking when he should have been running a route that led Smith away from the ball.
Another was a deflection, he said. "And I can't tell you on the other one. I'd have to watch the film."
But not only did Smith simply "catch the ball," he evaded Wilson to score from 54 yards out, returned another 41 yards to the Utah 4, and another 27 yards to the Utah 23.
The 54-yarder was thrown on fourth-and-2 at midfield before the end of the first half. Still, Whittingham had no regrets, figuring Utah had about a 75 to 80 percent chance of converting.
"That would have been huge to convert and get some momentum going into halftime, he said. … If you knew it wasn't going to work, you wouldn't call it. But the percentages were with us."
After Utah drew boos for using three late timeouts down two touchdowns and a field goal, Wilson threw a final, Hail Mary interception with 2 seconds remaining to hybrid safety-linebacker Su'a Cravens.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
Turning it over
Utah entered Saturday's game ranking second in the nation in turnover margin (+12) but lost that battle against USC.
First six games Utah Opp. 7 Turnovers 19 Saturday Utah USC 4 Turnovers 0