USC football: 3 takeaways from win over Utah in Week 12

USC football traveled to Utah in Week 12 and picked up much needed win over the Utes. Is USC a legitimate threat in the Pac-12? 

Coming into Week 12, a lot of teams have played an average of about eight games. Some have played a lot less than that as well. Utah is one of those teams. Saturday was Utah’s first game of the season. Yes, it’s Nov. 21, and it was their first game of the year. You read that correctly.

It has been a strange year for many reasons, but it got even more strange Saturday night during the broadcast of USC vs. Utah. Usually during #Pac12AfterDark, something happens that we have never seem before. That streak continued in this game as the camera feed was lost for a little while during tonight action.

Dave Flemming and Rod Gilmore handled the situation great as you would expect, but it was still crazy to imagine them announcing a game live on television through the ESPN gamecast for a few minutes.

There was expected to be some rust from the Utah program with this being their first game of the season. Not only because of the pandemic, but because they lost so much talent from last year’s roster. Rust was definitely the case to start off the game, but Utah still battled USC for four quarters in an entertaining game for those who wanted to stay up and watch some more college football.

Cameron Rising got his first start at quarterback for the Utes but that did not last long as he was injured when he was sacked and he also ended up fumbling the ball in the first half. Rising did not return to the game and was seen on the sideline in street clothes during the second half.

Jake Bentley, the transfer from South Carolina, came into the game for the injured Rising at quarterback. Was it a Heisman performance from Bentley off the bench? Not at all, but for the most part, he was able to keep Utah in the game and within striking distance of USC.

Bentley finished the night completing 14-of-24 passes for 132 yards, while throwing one touchdown and two interceptions.

USC came into the game undefeated and needed to stay that way if it wanted to play for a Pac-12 title down the road. USC may not be dominating their opponents so far this year but at the end of the day, a win’s a win. The Trojans would rather win ugly than lose pretty. The Trojans find themselves right in the thick of things halfway through the shortened Pac-12 season.

Here are my takeaways from USC’s victory over Utah to improve to 3-0.