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Jason Whittingham doesn't believe USC was gunning for him on last Saturday's first series, a nine-play, 88-yard drive in which Whittingham made two tackles, missed another and was flagged for a personal foul.

He only remembers identifying the zone blocking scheme. Finding the ball. Pursuing it. But fair or not, with captain Jared Norris sitting out and Whittingham seemingly in the frame each time the Trojans gained yards, Utah's No. 3 linebacker bore the brunt of the early criticism from fans on social media.

The chorus had softened by the end of the night, as the senior linebacker finished with a season-high nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a half-sack. He hadn't been Norris, maybe, but he hadn't been bad, either.

Whittingham knew early in the week that he'd have to replace Norris, recovering from an apparent knee injury, and "I was putting all my time and energy into the game, because I knew I had to step up and fill Jared's shoes," he said.

"He's a great player, he's a great leader, and I just tried to bring as much as I could to the table to replicate that."

As No. 3 linebacker résumés go, Whittingham's is respectable. He stands a solid 6-foot-2, 245 pounds and is athletic enough to have won the football team's halftime dunk contest at a Runnin' Utes game two years ago.

In 2013, he ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in tackles per game (8.1), and he started four of five contests when he wasn't sidelined by a badly broken wrist in 2014.

He's by no means just the coach's nephew.

But "it's a little different going out there and playing with someone you haven't played with in a while," he admitted.

Fellow senior Gionni Paul, who set Pac-12 season highs with 17 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss, credited Whittingham for an solid performance but likewise conceded, "you could tell that a key piece was missing from our defense."

Afterward, both faulted themselves for USC's success — which came in large part on the edges of Utah's defense. Even as the Utah front seven held them to 2.6 yards per carry, the Trojans had touchdown drives of 88, 76, 83 and 92 yards.

Said Whittingham: "We have to be more physical on the edge. As linebackers, we have to fly to the sideline faster. We have to pursue. We have to take great angles. We have to be mechanically sound. We can't do someone else's job in the hopes that we make a big play. We just have to do our own job."

As for Norris, there has been no update on his status, though a tweet from Utah's football account showed him in full pads at Wednesday's practice.

Outer limits?

One week removed from an apparent breakout 116-yard performance against Arizona State, senior wideout Kenneth Scott had four grabs for 30 yards, while true freshman Tyrone Smith was shut out and now has 118 yards through seven games — four of which he started.

Utah passed for 254 yards in the loss, but 129 of those went to slot receiver Britain Covey, who leads the team with 345.

Kyle Whittingham rated the group's performance overall as "not bad." Scott was "kind of quiet," he said, and he hopes to see across-the-board improvement.

Scott isn't sweating the extent of his involvement as a pass-catcher, he said. That's not what he believes cost them against USC.

"Our offense is mainly to run the ball and not create turnovers," he said. "That's our whole offense. Run the ball, not create turnovers, and convert on those third-and-shorts and things like that and be efficient. As long as we keep doing that and not creating turnovers and be positive in the turnover margin as far as beating the other team, we're going to be good."

Grin and bear it

Covey was depicted on last Wednesday's episode of Pac-12 Networks' "The Drive" on the receiving end of a rant from wideouts coach Taylor Stubblefield, driving a large truck to campus, and stepping out of said large truck in giant bear claw slippers.

Asked Monday his footwear was some kind of dare, Covey responded: "I got them in West Yellowstone, and I mean, they're so comfortable. Before you criticize me, walk a mile in my shoes. Then when you do criticize me, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have my shoes. That's a quote from Jack Handey."

Visitors

Utah will welcome four official visitors to Saturday's game: California cornerback Terrell Burgess, Washington defensive end Amandre Williams (a Washington commit), Louisiana defensive end Sci Martin and Arizona long-snapper Turner Bernard. Burgess, Williams and Martin are all rated three stars by Rivals.com, while Kohl's snapping camp rates Bernard as the nation's No. 1 long-snapper.

mpiper@sltrib.com

Twitter: @matthew_piper

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Oregon State at No 13 Utah

P Saturday, 5 p.m.

TV • Pac-12