Utah Dominates USC For A 41-28 Win

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tyler Huntley threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-29 passing to lead Utah to a 41-28 victory over Southern Cal on Saturday night.

Huntley matched a career-high in passing yards to help the Utes beat the Trojans for the third straight time at home. Zack Moss added 136 yards on 25 carries. Utah (5-2, 3-2 Pac-12) has won three straight overall and moved into a first-place tie with USC in the Pac-12 South.

JT Daniels was 6-of-16 passing for 89 yards and a score with two interceptions for USC. Matt Fink, who played the entire fourth quarter in place of the freshman, finished with 43 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-7 passing.

The Trojans (4-3, 3-2 Pac-12) generated just 205 total yards and averaged 3.8 yards per play. Utah tallied 541 yards while averaging 6.7 yards per play.

USC sprinted to a 14-0 lead behind a pair of big plays.

Michael Pittman's 34-yard catch provided the first touchdown. Daniels narrowly eluded a sack and heaved the ball toward the goal line. It slipped through the hands of Utah safety Marquiese Blair and Pittman corralled the ball in the end zone.

Then, the Trojans made it a two-touchdown lead when John Houston forced a fumble and Jay Tufele scooped up the ball and rumbled 48 yards for the score.

Britain Covey stopped the bleeding for the Utes. He returned the kickoff 38 yards and followed up by taking a screen pass 46 yards to narrow USC's lead to 14-7.

Utah took its first lead on a 3-yard run from Huntley and put the Trojans away after he threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Solomon Enis and an 11-yard strike to Demari Simpkins to extend the Utes' lead to 34-14 in the third quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

USC: Aside from capitalizing on a broken play here and there, USC had almost no success moving the chains against Utah's stout defense. Daniels was largely ineffective in the passing game and the Trojan running backs gained little ground against the Pac-12's top defense.

Utah: There's no question now that Utah's offense is legit. For the third straight game, the Utes posted at least 40 points. Huntley is growing more comfortable in the pocket and his passing rallied Utah on a night where the running game got off to a rough start.

UP NEXT

USC hosts Arizona State on Saturday.

Utah travels to UCLA on Friday

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