SALT LAKE CITY — Utah quarterback Travis Wilson went for it late in Saturday’s 24-21 win over USC.
The junior ran nearly 19 yards and attempted to dive across the goal line for what was initially called a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining.
Replay officials, however, overruled the go-ahead score and placed the ball about 1 foot away from the end zone. A rush attempt by Devontae Booker and a timeout followed. Wilson then connected on a 1-yard scoring strike to Kaelin Clay. The low pass to the right side and decisive touchdown came with just eight seconds to go — lifting the now 18th-ranked Utes (6-1 overall, 3-1 in Pac-12 play) to victory.
“It was a great run by Travis — a phenomenal effort to get the ball in the end zone. He just came up short,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “I think we were on the half-yard line and the rest is history. Two plays later we were in the end zone.”
Wilson, who directed the final 11-play, 73-yard drive, noted that the final play was something that the Utes have been practicing for weeks.
“I think that was the perfect time to call it,” Wilson said. “I think they were expecting us to just hand the ball off and give it to Booker, but Kaelin ran a nice route and got open for me and it made an easy throw.”
It capped a solid showing by Wilson, who completed 18 of 32 passes for 194 yards. He improved to 12-10 as Utah’s starter.
“I should single him out. It’s been a rough first half of the year for him. I know things haven’t gone for him, individually, as he would have hoped,” Whittingham said. “But what a gutsy performance tonight out of him. He hung in there and made some huge plays for us and ultimately the game-winner there at the end.”
Wilson extended his nation-leading streak without an interception to 143 throws. It helped the Utes weather two costly fumbles — by Booker at the 1-yard line in the first quarter and by wide receiver Tim Patrick at the goal line in the third quarter.
Booker went on to run for a game-high 102 yards and a touchdown.
“I put that behind me and just started running hard like the way I usually do,” he said after topping the 100-yard mark for the fourth-consecutive game.
Utah garnered 331 yards of total offense and outgained USC on the ground by a 137-100 margin. Whittingham felt the latter was one of the keys to success going into the game.
Whittingham was especially pleased with the output, noting that the Utes knew it would be tough sledding against what he called USC’s NFL front seven.
Utah’s offense wound up with 21 first downs and had six players make receptions, led by tight end Westlee Tonga with six.
“I don’t think our offense played our best game yet, but I definitely think we did a lot of great things in the passing game,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of guys had a lot of catches and that definitely helped out today. We’ve still got a lot of improvements on offense but this is definitely one to enjoy.”
The defense also had moments to savor, beginning with Davion Orphey’s 53-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown just 33 seconds into the game. It came on an incomplete backward pass from USC quarterback Cody Kessler to Darreus Rogers near the Utah sideline. The ball fell to the ground and with a little encouragement to do so, Orphey scooped it up and headed for the end zone.
“Oh yeah, we were screaming at him to pick it up and run,” Whittingham said.
Other bright spots included an interception by Jason Fanaika, a game-high nine tackles by Jared Norris, and 1 1/2 sacks from Hunter Dimick.
As a team, the Utes tallied five tackles for loss, two sacks, and a pair of pass breakups.
Special teams were a mixed bag. While the negative was surrendering a 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, there were some positives — Tom Hackett averaged 46.4 yards on seven punts, pinning three inside the 20; kicker Andy Phillips made a 24-yard field goal and three PATs; and Clay had a 51-yard punt return.
Whittingham noted there were a lot of good things in the game. The best, though, was the Utes improving to 6-1 on the season. As for the team becoming bowl-eligible, he explained that was one of their goals coming out of fall camp.
While acknowledging that a win over USC is gratifying, Whittingham declined to say that the program has arrived. He said the Utes have to keep working and continue trying to improve.
“You never get ahead of yourself,” Whittingham said. “It’s foolish to get ahead of yourself.”
As such, Whittingham claimed he didn’t know who was next on the schedule.
“We’ll regroup and come back Monday and start getting ready for whoever that is,” Whittingham said.
The Utes face No. 14/15 Arizona State (6-1, 4-1) Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
“Honestly I did not know that,” Whittingham said. “ ... Every week is a different challenge. Arizona State is a heck of a football team.”
The Sun Devils, he added, are explosive on offense and have a lot of weapons.
Utah, ASU and Arizona are the lone teams in the Pac-12 South with one conference loss. USC was in the group before losing to the Utes.
“There’s no do-or-die games in football. I don’t believe in that,” said Whittingham, who added that a two-loss team could end up winning the division. “But it was a big game and it puts us in pretty good position.”
Wilson offered a big-picture perspective of Utah’s victory over USC.
“The way we played and the way we had the heart to finish out the game strong shows a lot for this team and what we want to accomplish,” he said. “It was definitely something to take in and something to really enjoy.”
Email: dirk@desnews.com
Twitter: @DirkFacer