USC falls to Utah, path for Buckeyes in CFP clears
COLUMBUS — Utah did it again. The No. 11 Utes upset No. 4 USC and Heisman Trophy favorite Caleb Williams in Friday night’s Pac-12 Championship, 47-24, opening the College Football Playoff door for No. 5 Ohio State.
Utah found itself down, 17-3, in the first half, but quarterback Cameron Rising guided the Utes to their second straight conference title and second win over the new-look Trojans in 2022. Utah’s defense made the necessary adjustments to slow down USC’s high-powered offense, and an apparent leg injury to Williams limited the Trojans in the second half as well.
Friday marks USC’s second loss of the season. No two-loss team has made the CFP since its inception.
In Tuesday’s CFP rankings, No. 5 Ohio State clocked in one spot behind the Trojans. The Buckeyes aren’t playing on Conference Championship Weekend after their embarrassing defeat to No. 2 Michigan at home.
“I thought we were in it,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said of 22-point loss to the Wolverines. “And we were fighting there at the end. It obviously got out of control down the stretch. But it wasn’t like we were outmatched in terms of just overall play. I don’t think so. As we get to those decisions, I think you got to look at the body of work and what we’ve done, and we got a lot of good pieces on this team. We came up short today.
“But I think if we were able to get a shot at the top four, we’d be a dangerous team.”
With Utah’s win over USC, Ohio State is in good position to get that shot.
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