Southern Cal stops late Utah 2-point try, holds off Utes 28-27

Los Angeles • No, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham doesn’t regret his decision to go for a 2-point conversion instead of sending his team’s game against No. 13 Southern Cal to overtime.

And yes, he’d do it again if given the chance to do it all over again.

Whittingham offered up those answers before any questions could be asked following Utah’s heart-wrenching 28-27 loss to the Trojans on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 72,382 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Utah’s second loss in consecutive weeks dropped its record to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Pac-12 play.

The Trojans, led by the duo of quarterback Sam Darnold and running back Ronald Jones II, rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit for a win that puts them in control of their destiny in the Pac-12 South.

“I would not have changed the decision at the end,” Whittingham said. “I thought it was the right decision. We played about 80 snaps of defense, had major problems stopping them in the second half. Darnold was on fire. I thought that was the percentage play. If I had it to do again, I’d do the same thing.”

The Utes drove 75 yards and scored on a Troy Williams 1-yard touchdown with 42 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game. Along the way on that drive which started with 4:45 remaining, the Utes converted a fourth-and-1 with a 37-yard play-action pass to tight end Siale Fakailoatonga, which put the Utes at the USC 2-yard line.

The Utes opted to go for the 2-point conversion and the win, but Williams scampered around end to the right side before he got stopped short of the goal line.

“The tight end is supposed to sneak out the other side, but they covered Harry [Handley] pretty well,” Williams said. “I just tried to make a play at the end.”

“Bottom line, we came up one play short,” Whittingham said. “They made the play at the end to win the game, and we didn’t.”

Williams was 16 of 27 passing for 262 yards with one interception and one touchdown pass. He also ran for a touchdown run and hauled in a touchdown catch. Utah running back Zack Moss rushed for a career-high 141 yards.

Darnold passed for 358 yards and three touchdowns, while Jones II rushed for 111 yards and one touchdown.

Utes defensive ends Bradlee Anae and Kylie Fitts, who have battled injuries the past three weeks, were both sidelined by injuries at the end of the game along with starting safety Chase Hansen, who had left the game in the first quarter but later returned. He went down for good with what appeared to be a shoulder injury in the third quarter.

Darnold and the Trojans offense bounced back from a turnover-prone first half and tied the score at 21 with 13:34 remaining in the game. Darnold showed all the skills Whittingham had gushed about earlier in the week — the ability to make plays with his legs, being able to thread the needle between defenders with his arm, and quick decision-making.

Darnold scrambled to buy time and threw a 17-yard touchdown strike between two defenders to tight end Tyler Petit to pull the Trojans within 21-14 with 5:56 left in the third quarter. Less than two minutes into the fourth, he added a 1-yard touchdown pass to Josh Falo on a rollout to tie the score.

On the go-ahead scoring drive, Darnold ran for 14 yards to converted a third-and-10 to help set up an eventual 11-yard touchdown run by Jones with 4:54 remaining. That set the stage for the Utes’ final possesion.

The Utes forced three turnovers, all on first-half fumbles, and Utah led 21-7 at halftime.

Junior safety Marquise Blair scored the game’s first touchdown on an 18-yard fumble return following a tackle and forced fumble from Darnold by senior linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga.

The Utes’ first offensive touchdown came on a 5-yard throwback pass by wide receiver Damari Simpkins to Williams, who dove and extended his arm to get the ball across the goal line. That touchdown gave the Utes a 14-7 lead with 13:10 left in the first half. With 4:49 remaining, Williams returned the favor by hitting Simpkins with a 33-yard touchdown pass to give the Utes a 21-7 lead.