Cameron Rising followed up the last of his three touchdown runs with a successful two-point conversion carry with 48 seconds remaining, and No. 19 Utah handed No. 7 USC its first loss in a wild 43-42 Utes victory Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Rising, whose 415 yards on 29-of-43 passing were the most by a Utah quarterback in 17 years, also finished with a team-high 60 yards rushing.
Utah (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12 Conference) rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the first half to force ties at 28-28 and 35-35 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Behind Caleb Williams' 381 yards passing and five touchdowns, however, USC (6-1, 4-1) kept Utah from taking a lead -- until its final drive.
The Utes took possession after Williams called an audible to connect with Michael Jackson III on a screen pass, which Jackson took 20 yards for a Trojans touchdown.
Utah responded by going 75 yards in 15 plays. USC's Tuasivi Nomura met Micah Bernard at the goal line to prevent a Utah touchdown on third-and-1.
But on fourth down, Rising broke through for the score. He scored on another goal-line rush earlier in the fourth quarter and ran for a two-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
In a moment reminiscent of 2017, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham called for a two-point conversion rather than kick for overtime. The call failed at USC five years ago in a 28-27 Utes' loss; this time, Rising found daylight on the conversion attempt.
Rising threw touchdown passes of 16 yards to Devaughn Vele and four yards to Dalton Kincaid, who caught 15 passes for 217 yards, including a 19-yard reception on a third-and-1 play during the Utes' game-winning drive.
Both of USC tight end Josh Falo's receptions went for touchdowns. Mario Williams led the Trojans with 145 yards receiving on four receptions, and Jordan Addison caught seven passes for 106 yards with a touchdown.
Addison came out with an injury in the second half. USC also lost linebacker Eric Gentry to an apparent ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
--Field Level Media
Southern California | Utah | |
Travis Dye | Player | Cameron Rising |
11 | Attempts | 11 |
76 | Yards | 60 |
6.9 | Avg Yards | 5.5 |
1 | Touchdowns | 3 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Southern California | Utah | |
Mario Williams | Player | Dalton Kincaid |
4 | Receptions | 16 |
145 | Yards | 234 |
36.2 | Avg Yards | 14.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Southern California | 556 | 175 | 381 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 |
Utah | 562 | 138 | 424 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 |