SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 5, 2012
No. 12 USC 38, Utah 28: Matt Barkley passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns and Marqise Lee had 12 receptions for 192 yards as No. 12 Southern California recovered from a dreadful start to knock off host Utah in Pac-12 action.
The Trojans (4-1, 2-1) spotted Utah 14 points early before dominating the second half and handing the Utes (2-3, 0-2) their second consecutive defeat.
USC trailed by 11 points in the second quarter before Barkley hit Randall Telfer on a 23-yard scoring pass and Robert Woods on a 6-yarder for a 24-21 halftime lead. Barkley connected on a career-long 83-yard scoring pass to Lee early in the fourth quarter and Nickell Robey scored on a 38-yard interception return as the Trojans took a 17-point lead.
Utah had a 14-0 advantage before the game was even three minutes old due to two USC fumbles. A rolling center snap by Khaled Holmes that Barkley was unable to secure was returned 8 yards for a touchdown by Nate Fakahafua. Another snap miscue set up an 11-yard scoring from Jon Hays to Kenneth Scott.
Silas Redd scored on a 2-yard run to get USC on the board but Utah’s led reached 21-10 when Hays connected on an 18-yard scoring pass to DeVonte Christopher with 8:54 left in the first half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Woods caught six passes to tie Keary Colbert for second place in USC history with 207 receptions. Dwayne Jarrett holds the school record of 216 catches. … Hays was 19-of-32 passing for 160 yards and the costly interception … The teams were called for 27 penalties totaling 222 yards – USC drew 14 flags for 100 yards and the Utes were penalized 13 times for 122 yards.