No. 19 Utah scored on a 1-yard pass from Travis Wilson to Kaelin Clay with eight seconds left to knock off No. 20 USC Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, 24-21.
With the win, Utah (6-1) becomes bowl-eligible for the first time since 2011 and it is their first win in four tries over the Trojans (5-3) in four tries since joining the conference.
USC went for it, going into the wind, on fourth-and-2 from the Utah 28, but receiver Nelson Agholor stepped out of bounds with a lateral a yard shy of the first down.
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Utah went 73 yards in 12 plays, needing just two minutes, with Wilson getting the Utes on the doorstep of the end zone with a run for 25 yards down the sideline before he was knocked out of bounds inside the 1-yard line with 18 seconds left.
After Devontae Booker was stopped on first down, the Utes took a timeout and then went to the air, with Wilson finding Clay open in the right side of the end zone.
Both teams turned the ball over twice and Booker was a workhorse for the Utah offense, gaining 102 yards on 26 carries, including a 24-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that put the Utes up 17-14.
USC reclaimed the lead with 10:18 to go on a 4-yard touchdown from Cody Kessler to Darreus Rogers.
Utah got the first score of the game just 33 seconds in when Rogers made a huge mistake. Kessler threw a swing pass to Rogers that fell incomplete.
But Utah’s Davion Orphey picked the ball up and scrambled 53 yards for a touchdown as the play was a lateral, making it a fumble.
Kessler was 24-for-32 for 264 yards with two touchdowns and an interception and USC scored on a 100-yard kickoff return by Adoree’ Jackson.
Agholor had 10 receptions for 110 yards and JuJu Smith had six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Wilson finished 18-for-32 for 193 yards and a touchdown for Utah.
USC fell to 4-2 in the Pac-12 South, where Utah is one of three teams with just one conference loss, and will visit Washington State next Saturday.
Utah is 3-1 in conference play and has a showdown with No. 14 Arizona State next Saturday night.
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