Big plays by USC doom the Utes at the end

Los Angeles • Utah’s 28-27 loss at USC on Saturday night was nothing if not wild.

It was filled with big plays, big turnovers, big excitement, big surprises, big gains, a big momentum shift, and big heartbreak.

First, opportunity was big for the Utes, then for the Trojans, then for the Utes again.

Utah defensive back Marquise Blair recovers a fumble for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Southern California in Los Angeles, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

At the start, Utah quarterback Troy Williams threw deep often, completing, for example, a 50-yard pass to Raelon Singleton and a 40-yarder to Siaosi Wilson. Mixed in were other aggressive attempts, a couple of them drawing pass interference calls against USC.

As the game wore on, there were hefty runs by Zack Moss, a couple of which set up Utah’s second touchdown, a clever pass from receiver Demari Simpkins — who played quarterback in high school — to Williams, who still does, except for in this particular moment, when he did the catching in the end zone.

Williams returned the favor with a 33-yard TD pass to Simpkins near the end of the first half, handing the Utes an impressive 21-7 lead.

USC’s quarterback Sam Darnold also was the center of big drama, hitting Tyler Petite for a 52-yard scoring pass. And leading the Trojans on multiple drives. But the bigness factor went the other way, too. Darnold suffered two first-half fumbles, one of which killed an early drive and another that was picked up by Utah’s Marquise Blair and returned 18 yards for Utah’s first score. Darnold also threw a backward pass that was recovered by the Utes.

Moss didn’t have any one huge run, but he picked up chunks of yardage, stacking up a total of 141 rushing yards.

Next thing, USC came on strong. Utah’s big plays went cold.

Darnold made numerous big moves on a 98-yard scoring drive, including a 17-yard punctuating TD pass. He followed that with an 88-yard TD drive, set up by a 20-yard pass to Steven Mitchell, tying the score.

Ronald Jones had a 26-yard run, the highlight of a go-ahead drive by USC. That was answered by a Utah TD drive, made possible by a 37-yard fourth-and-1 pass from Williams to Siale Fakailoatonga.

And the biggest play of all: A 2-point conversion try by Utah, down 28-27 with 42 seconds left. Williams’ scramble fell short.