Like most USC message boards and relevant social media Saturday night, the First-and-10 offices were an outlet for apoplectic frustration at the officiating, confounding confusion at the Trojans' inability to even slow down Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid, deflating disappointment in a defense that had been making such positive strides and, ultimately, a whole lot of what-if rehashing after the 43-42 loss to the Utes in Salt Lake City.

USC had every chance to be 7-0 entering its bye week. Alas ...

Even a day later, we still have a lot of thoughts, critiques and laments, so here goes with the weekly First-and-10 column -- our 10 most significant thoughts and takeaways from the Trojans' performance.

It’s unfortunate that Caleb Wiliams’ best performance of the season to date had to come in a loss, but that’s no reason not to appreciate what the sophomore quarterback showed on Saturday. From the opening drive of the game onward, Williams was electric, putting on display all the skills that make him such a unique prospect at the quarterback position.

As always, his ability to elude defenders in the pocket and in open space was sensational. Williams’ pocket presence was at its best in this game, as he showed excellent composure to manipulate the space around him at will, stepping up when needed and giving his downfield options time to develop. He took off running often and did serious damage with his leg, gaining 97 yards on 4 carries when not including sack yardage.

Williams also made the most of his elite arm talent, pulling off a number of ridiculous throws that kept the Trojans offense charging up and down the field with ease. The raw velocity that Williams is able to generate on throws 25+ yards downfield is remarkable and allows him to hit windows that few other quarterbacks could dare to try. The laser of a pass he rocketed into the hands of Mario Williams in the closing moments of the first half was one such example, a ball thrown on a rope nearly 30 yards downfield between three defenders, right to his receiver’s chest (it would end up dropped). Perhaps the most ridiculous throw of the day, though, was his heave to Mario Williams down the sideline. On that play, the quarterback scrambled wildly towards the boundary before deciding to attempt the pass at the last second, effortlessly flicking the ball downfield on the run and dropping it masterfully into his receiver’s bucket in stride for a 36-yard gain on third-and-8 late in the first half.

He was a man on a mission throughout this game, down to the very end as he led what could have been the game-winning touchdown drive on USC’s penultimate possession of the game. Williams certainly didn’t play a perfect game; his tendency to look for the hero play and hold onto the ball for too long bit the Trojans on a handful of occasions. Even still, he looked like the best player on the field for four quarters and delivered a performance worthy of that title. Williams finished the night with 381 passing yards and 5 touchdowns with 0 interceptions, along with the rushing production mentioned earlier. It was a strong performance from start to finish against a legitimately testy defense and a welcome building block for the quarterback heading into the back half of the season.

The rushing numbers for USC in this game looked pretty good -- 27 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown is nothing to be disappointed with, especially when considering that factors in the lost yardage from 4 sacks. The Trojans were plenty efficient when handing it off, with the team’s running backs averaging 5.88 yards per carry through the night. However, there’s a strong argument that USC could have greatly benefitted from handing the ball off more, particularly in the second and third quarters. Though the rushing total is a healthy number, a large chunk of that yardage came on a handful of scrambles by Caleb Williams. As far as actual carries, the Trojans only gave their running backs 16 of them overall.

USC settled back to pass on a vast majority of its snaps, a strategy that was certainly successful as the passing offense routinely carved up the Utes’ defense. However, the speed with which the Trojans’ offensive possessions ended every time gave the team’s already-stretched defense precious little time to rest, while additionally allowing Utah to keep a foothold in the time of possession game despite their own difficulties running the football with their backs. Despite the Trojans’ offensive dominance, the Utes actually won the time of possession battle in this game by nearly 4 minutes. As it became evident in the second quarter that Utah was capable of matching USC score for score, it would have been prudent to slow the game down somewhat and work to limit the opposition’s opportunities to touch the football.

Given how explosive and successful the passing game was, it was entirely reasonable to have it remain the focal point of the offensive gameplan, but there was more of a balance USC could have sought through the middle portions of the game. Travis Dye was having an excellent night running the football; he averaged nearly 7 yards a carry as the Utes struggled to slow him down on the ground. Yet he only received 11 carries all game, a significant number of those coming in the late stretches of the matchup. At the end of the day, the Trojans' defense got worn out over the course of the game and Utah’s offense grew more and more capable of taking advantage of the reality. Given that USC had every opportunity to reduce that load by way of a rushing attack that was doing well, it’s hard not to think that leaning on it further would have helped.

Though the 4 sacks given up in this game were the most of the year for USC, the offensive line deserves credit for its performance against what should have been the toughest defensive front they’ve seen all fall. For the most part, the group was stellar in pass protection. Caleb Williams had all day to throw for most of this game, with enormous pockets to work with and step up through. Two of the sacks allowed on the day can be attributed directly to missed blocking assignments by running backs, while at least one of the others should be pinned on Williams for holding the ball too long. This was a very, very impressive showing from the five Trojans up front in protection and a positive omen for their performance down the stretch.

The group was very effective in the running game as well, clearing the way masterfully for ball-carriers when USC did choose to hand it off. The lanes available for the team’s runners were consistently wide, and the linemen’s effort to block downfield was not lost on me, particularly on the part of Jonah Monheim. All in all, this was an excellent performance by the line against its toughest competition to date. However the blame for this loss is distributed, little of it should be placed on the OL.