End Of An Era: How Utah VS. USC Became Must-Watch College Football
Oct 18, 2023, 12:52 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Who would have ever thought Utah versus USC would become must-watch college football or that it would come to an abrupt end?
The plucky, upstart Utes who clawed their way up from the Mountain West into the Power Five ranks versus the storied blue-blood Trojans with rich history and tradition suddenly became a series football fans needed to tune into when the Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
Unfortunately, fans may only have one last time to enjoy this matchup for the foreseeable future this coming weekend. It’s the sad reality of conference realignment knowing good series are coming to an end.
Headed to California this week 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2DiHL514vH
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 16, 2023
Taking A Closer Look At Utah VS. USC
So, what has made this game so special over the years?
For starts, if you are a casual fan with no horse in the race, you’ve been treated to a lot of really good, competitive games that have had some funky, weird elements take place.
If you’re a fan of one side or the other, the games have provided reasons to never want to lose to the other side, ever.
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It might be a stretch to call this a rivalry, but there is certainly no doubt there is fire and passion and a want to win every time these two teams meet up that isn’t necessarily present in every Pac-12 matchup.
“I don’t want to call it a rivalry,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said on Monday. “It’s been a great back-and-forth series and implications typically every year- conference implications, championship implications. Of course, we played them in the championship game last year. It’s turned out to be very competitive and very intense football game.”
How The Series Has Shaken Out Since Utah Became A Conference-Mate In 2011
- 2011 | @Coliseum| USC 23- Utah 14
- 2012 | @RES | USC 38- Utah 28
- 2013 | @Coliseum | USC 19- Utah 3
- 2014 | @RES | Utah 24- USC 21
- 2015 | @Coliseum | USC 42- Utah 24
- 2016 | @RES | Utah 31- USC 27
- 2017 | @Coliseum | USC 28- Utah 27
- 2018 | @RES | Utah 41- USC 28
- 2019 | @Coliseum | USC 30- Utah 23
- 2020| @RES | USC 33- Utah 17
- 2021 | @Coliseum | Utah 42- USC 26
- 2022 | @RES | Utah 43- USC 42
- 2022 | @Allegiant Field- Pac-12 Title | Utah 47- USC 24
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Some Interesting Trends In The Utah VS. USC Series
Utah and USC have met 13 times as conference-mates in the Pac-12 (soon to be 14) and are pretty evenly split in wins and losses. USC is ahead by one game with seven wins while Utah has six and an opportunity to end the matchup in an even split this weekend.
Typically speaking, the home team has usually won this series. USC has two wins in Salt Lake City and Utah has one win in Los Angeles. The Utes are the only team in this series with a neutral-site win in the Pac-12 Championship game last year.
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Since becoming conference-mates in 2011 the Utah versus USC matchup has been won by a single score five times, and by one point twice (2017 & 2022). The matchup has been a two-score game three times, and a three-score game four times.
With all that information available, how do you think the 2023 matchup between Utah and USC will go? Let us know in the comments.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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