USC Football: Third string quarterback gives team third win of season

The USC Football Trojans have had some bad luck at the quarterback position this season, but every player has stepped up when their number was called.

Things have been interesting at the quarterback position for the USC Football team in 2019.

JT Daniels got injured in the first game against Fresno State and Kedon Slovis stepped up to the challenge. Slovis started two games and showed his potential against Stanford and BYU. Slovis started this week’s game against No. 10 Utah but got injured after two plays. That’s when the junior Matt Fink stepped up and showed the country he is a solid choice for the position.

Unranked USC beat up a Utah team that many analysts considered a top team in the country. But USC showed they can contend with the best despite not being in the Associated Press’ top 25.

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But it looks like USC and their head coach Clay Helton has a tough decision to make for next week’s game if Slovis is healthy.

Fink came in the game and threw for 351 yards on 30 attempts with three touchdowns and an interception to add. The running game was nonexistent against Utah –- totaling for 13 yards in the game.

At least they rushed for positive yardage since they ended the half with negative 12 yards on 6 attempts.

On the other side, Utah did really well containing the Trojans’ consistent rushing. It didn’t seem like the defense could catch Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley and he finished the game with 210 passing yards on 30 attempts, 60 rushing yards on 18 attempts and a touchdown.

Utah also had 247 yards on the ground to balance out the offense. Sophomore running back Devin Brumfield had to control the ground game after the starter Zack Moss went down with a shoulder injury in the first half.

The game started off close with a USC touchdown, then a Utah touchdown, then another USC touchdown within three minutes of each other. But the Trojans led end to end during the game even though they had no rushing yards for the first 11 minutes of the game.

The Trojans dominated on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams. Though they didn’t take advantage of it, USC blocked a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter that gave them good field position.

The defense –- led by lineman Drake Jackson and defensive backs Talanoa Hufanga and Olaijah Griffin –- gave up 457 total yards but made the Utes attempt three field goals, punt twice, caught one interception, scored a safety, and forced a fumble in the red zone.

The game was ridden with tons of penalties on both sides. Utah finished the game with 16 penalties for 120 yards while USC had 11 penalties for 117 yards.

The Trojans had no business winning the game. In many aspects, they were outplayed. They gave up way too many yards, committed unnecessary penalties, and gave up 5 third-down conversions on 13 attempts by Utah. Utah had possession for more than 38 minutes but wasn’t able to use the time wisely.

The Utes are going back to Salt Lake City to face No. 19 Washington State next Saturday and hope to keep adding wins to their 3-1 record on the year. Washington State is undefeated and is facing the winless UCLA Bruins tonight at home.

The USC Football Trojans are traveling to Seattle to face No. 22 Washington next week. Both sides are 3-1 on the season and are fighting for Pac-12 seeding.