Another week, another pivotal Pac-12 South showdown and another must-win game for USC if it hopes to salvage some of its season goals.
The Trojans (4-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) visit Utah (4-2, 2-2) in Salt Lake City on Saturday night with control of the division at stake.
If USC can stretch its winning streak to four games, it would not only have possession of first place in the standings but also wins over all of the top challengers in the South.
The Utes are playing their best football of the season, though, riding the momentum of lopsided wins at Stanford (40-21) and over Arizona (42-10).
Those are the kind of blowout, feel-good victories that have eluded the Trojans to this point.
"I think Coach [Kyle] Whittingham has got his kids playing as well as anybody in our conference right now over the last two weeks," USC coach Clay Helton said.
Indeed, this game should reveal plenty about the Trojans.
Game info
When: 5 p.m. PT, Saturday
Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein, Anthony Herron and Lewis Johnson.
Matchup history/breakdown
USC is 11-5 all-time against Utah, including 2-3 in Salt Lake City. The Trojans won the 2017 meeting, 28-27, in the Coliseum after overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit and then stopping a Utah two-point conversion attempt in the final minute. Utah won the last meeting in Salt Lake City, 31-27, in 2016.
This is Utah's homecoming game.
Total offense/scoring offense
USC: 381.3 YPG (87th)/25.7 PPG (92nd)
Utah: 406.7 YPG (67th)/28.5 PPG (70th)
Total defense/scoring defense
USC: 361.8 YPG (50th)/25.2 PPG (T-61st)
Utah: 300.0 YPG (9th)/16.0 PPG (T-10th)
Quarterback spotlight
USC freshman JT Daniels: 117-201 passing (58.2 percent) for 1,529 yards, 7 TD, 5 INT
USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin said: "I never wavered [last week]. ... He threw the first pick, the interception first play of the game and I knew that he wasn't going to flinch. Went back, threw the ball next series, he threw another one. Went right back to the passing game again. I have a lot of trust in him and a lot of belief in his skills and abilities, but mainly his mindset during games. He has the ability to have a short-term memory when things are good or bad and move on to the next play."
Utah junior Tyler Huntley: 108-169 passing (63.9 percent) for 1,221 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT, 207 rushing yards, 3 TD
USC coach Clay Helton said: "I think anytime you sit back there and look at 11 personnel and there's basically two runners back there -- the quarterback and the running back -- that makes it a little more difficult anytime you have to defend that quarterback. As well as, not only their zone read, but they've had option principles off it now that's a little bit different than they've done in years past so I think they've advanced their run game over the last two weeks especially."
Top playmakers
Michael Pittman had his long-awaited breakout game last week against Colorado, catching 5 passes for a career-high 155 yards (he was retroactively credited with an extra 11 yards) and 2 touchdowns.
USC's downfield passing attack has become his most trusted weapon with Amon Ra-St. Brown (29 catches for 427 yards and 2 TD), Tyler Vaughns (28-330-2) and Pittman (16-353-3) all ever-present threats to break a big play.
The rushing attack remains a mystery from week to week, with Aca'Cedric Ware (60 carries for 358 yards and 3 TD), Stephen Carr (59-296-1) and Vavae Malepeai (31-160-6) working as a committee.
For Utah, the offense relies on the rushing attack operating behind a big and physical offensive line.
While Huntley is a rushing threat on his own in the zone read game, running back Zack Moss is having a nice season with 617 yards on 5.6 yard per carry with 7 TD.
Britain Covey is the Utes' top receiver with 39 catches for 405 yards.
Defensive players to watch
There are some significant unknowns for the Trojans defense this week.
Starting middle linebacker Cam Smith (hamstring) remained an end-of-week decision after missing the last game, while freshman backup Palaie Gaoteote was medically cleared through the concussion protocol this week, but Helton had yet to confirm his status.
More pressing, perhaps, is how the Trojans replace top pass rusher Porter Gustin, who is out for the season with a fractured ankle.
Gustin was leading the Pac-12 with 7 sacks while no other USC defender has more than 1.5.
Christian Rector (12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 QB hurries) is likely to take a lead role in filling the void at Gustin's Predator position while redshirt-freshman Hunter Echols (4 tackles) should also take on a larger role.
"He's been close. He's had a lot of production from a quarterback hurry standpoint and he just hasn't gotten the sacks maybe that he had last year," defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said of Rector. "There's a lot of things he does for us that's maybe unsung, whether it be movement up front or taking on a tight end that the eye of the game doesn't see. But I've been pleased with the way he's played, and I think his plays will come. He and I have talked about. He's not going to press, he's going to keep doing what he needs to do."
Said Helton: "Obviously Christian has been there before, has had experience at that spot. I'm very proud of Hunter Echols, what he's done. He's been right under the tutelage of Porter the whole way and Porter's really brought him along. And he's been productive off the end, especially in pass rush situations. So based on down and distance, based on situation, especially versus a team that has a zone read quarterback, we can have different bodies out there on the edge [against] the zone read and others on passing down and distances to provide the rush. So you could see up to 3-4 guys out there."
As for Gaoteote, he's coming off a breakout game, registering 9 tackles and 2 tackles for loss in his first start before exiting the game in the third quarter. Third on the depth chart at that middle linebacker position is redshirt-senior Reuben Peters, a former walk-on who played his most extensive action last week while tallying 6 tackles and 2 TFL.
For Utah, the USC coaches have raved all week about senior safety Marquise Blair (21 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 2 pass break-ups).
Meanwhile, linebackers Chase Hansen (52 tackles, 11 TFL, 4 sacks) and Cody Barton (45-3.5-1) set the tone in the middle of the defense.
Key stat
Utah has the second-ranked rush defense in the country, holding opponents to 74.8 yards per game on the ground.
For a USC team that has struggled to establish the run and often fallen back on its passing attack to carry the offense, it would seem likely that the Trojans will again have to try to win this game through the air.
That said, offensive coordinator Tee Martin has maintained that he's committed to the run.
"I can't say it's one thing that you can put your finger on and say it's that. Sometimes it's mental, sometimes it's physical and sometimes the other team is doing a good job," he said of the struggles. "But we want to run the ball and committed more to it in the third quarter [last week], we did a good job of getting our pads down and falling forward for some good gains. Earlier in the game we were a little bit looking for the big run as opposed to just being disciplined in our reads."
Scouting reports
USC head coach Clay Helton:
"Offensively, over the last two weeks I think they've done a tremendous job establishing the run game, both with Moss, whose averaging over 100 yards now, as well as with Tyler Huntley, who has thrown in almost 40 yards a game with his legs whether it's designed runs or scrambles off the pass. They've done a great job of getting the ball to Covey in different ways. Because of that run game they've created some one-on-one matchups and they've really hit their deep ball shots the last couple games. I think that's created some great separation for them.
"Defensively I think it's a lot about the two linebackers, Chase Hansen and Cody Barton doing a tremendous job of running the lanes with some big defensive linemen in front of them. Offensive linemen are having to double team and they're being able to get off and run the lanes and get people down. I think what's going to be a neat matchup in this game, I think you're going to see two of the premier safeties in the country -- one being Marvell Tell and then Blair for Utah. You're talking about two kids that are going to be playing on Sunday."
Quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis:
"Watch the film, they play 1-high almost every snap. There's not a lot of running lanes in there. When you're a one-back, 11, 12 personnel offense and they with that many guys in the box, that's what they're doing -- they're trying to stop the run and you've got to throw the football and force them into some of their 2-high coverages. That's the cat and mouse game you play as coaches. ... At the end of the day, our goal is to win the football game so we're going to do whatever we can to win."
Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast:
"They've run the ball better. They've got themselves in a lot more manageable third-down situations and therefore they're winning on first down. Their offense is very impressive and it's a completely different style offense than what we faced last week [with] Colorado."
Links from this week's coverage
-Reporters Roundtable: Staff picks, predictions and perspective on USC-Utah
-Podcast: Ask the Expert with Yogi Roth, breaking down USC-Utah matchup
-Does USC's offense rest too much on QB JT Daniels
-Thursday practice notes: Updates on the LBs and the next step in JT Daniels' development
-Tajwar's Take: A different perspective on Porter Gustin
-Podcast: Pour one out for Porter Gustin
-Reuben Peters reflects on journey at USC leading to his big moment
-Wednesday practice notes: Updates on LBs Cam Smith and Palaie Gaoteote
-Tuesday practice notes: Clay Helton reflects on Porter Gustin
