Plaschke: Blame Lincoln Riley for USC going bust in Pac-12 title loss to Utah

The invincible quarterback was hobbled.

The genius coach was dumb.

The streaking USC Trojans limped and stumbled and eventually went splat, their loveliest of dreams dying an ugly death in the desert.

Utah 47, USC 24, and who would have thought?

This Pac-12 championship game Friday night at Allegiant Stadium was supposed to be a coronation for the No. 4-ranked Trojans, the stunningly brilliant debut season for coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams scheduled to culminate in their first conference title in five years and the school’s first College Football Playoff berth.

Then Riley lost his mind. And Williams lost his mobility after suffering a first-quarter hamstring injury. And the Trojans eventually lost their resilience against a relentless Utah team that rebounded from a 17-3 deficit to run over tacklers, rush past linemen and eventually crush the Trojans’ hopes with the brutality of an angry craps table.

USC went bust. And now, instead of competing for a national championship in the CFP final four, the Trojans must settle for the consolation prize of a secondary New Year’s Six bowl.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams slowly gets up with a bloodied right hand after being sacked late in the fourth quarter Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“You come as far as this team and this program has come in the last 12 months, to get that close to winning a championship and more, obviously not getting it done, it’s a tough pill to swallow,” Riley said afterward.

It still has been a tremendous surprise of a season, USC rebounding from a 4-8 debacle to go 11-2 and return to national prominence.

But it could have been so much more. And after taking that two-touchdown lead early in the second quarter, it should have been so much more.

But when presented the chance to drive a stake through Utah’s heart, Riley became conservative, then just silly. The Trojans allowed the Utes to climb back into the game with two late first-half touchdowns to tie it.

Then, in the second half, Utah took advantage of Williams’ limping and the usual poor USC defense to send thousands of Trojans fans trudging back to the Strip, their team suffering the night’s biggest loss in a city built by losers.

The Trojans essentially lost it when Williams lost it and Riley lost it.

Once Williams was apparently hurt, he had no ability to scramble, no ability to throw consistent pinpoint passes, no swagger.

He was 28 for 41 for 363 yards and three touchdowns, and, no, this should not affect his place atop the Heisman Trophy race. But his lack of mobility allowed him to be sacked seven times while turning him into a statue who rushed for only 21 yards on a dozen carries.

While nobody can blame Williams for the injury, Riley deserves plenty of blame for keeping Utah in the game shortly after the injury.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams covers his helmet with a towel during the final moments of a 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 title game Friday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Trojans scored on their first possession after an incredible 50-yard pass by Williams to Tahj Washington and a two-yard jump pass to Washington for the game’s first touchdown

On USC’s next drive the Trojans were soaring again, this time on the wings of an incredible 59-yard run by Williams, a hamstring-popping journey during which he spun out of one tackle and broke three other tackles. He finished the drive on fourth and two from the Utah three-yard line when, on a play-action pass he found a wide-open Raleek Brown in the end zone.

That made it 14-3, and the Trojans seemed unstoppable.

Then Riley basically stopped them.

After the Trojans held the Utes late in the first quarter, Williams led them back downfield to a first and goal at the Utah three-yard line. After a stuffed run and two incompletions, the Trojans were faced with a fourth and goal from that spot.

If you’re USC, of course you go for the touchdown, right? Especially if you’ve been dominating the game on both sides of the ball? Especially since that touchdown could give you the feeling of an insurmountable lead?

Not this time. USC settled for a 20-yard field goal from Denis Lynch, and it felt like an opportunity missed.

Moments later, after Bryson Shaw recovered a fumble forced by Max Williams on the Utah 39-yard line, the Trojans had another chance to squelch the spirit of the Utes.

But once again, Riley whiffed, calling two running plays for Austin Jones even though he had been completely ineffective. The runs were stuffed, and USC faced a fourth-and-eight situation, and it seemed like the right time for a punt, maybe one of Williams’ trademark pooch kicks.

But no. This time, the Trojans decided to go for it, Williams’ pass was broken up, and a rejuvenated Utah team owned the ball, the momentum, and the rest of the first half.

At the time, USC had outgained Utah 228-89.

But then, for the rest of the game, Utah outgained USC 444-191.

It all changed on those last two Utah drives of the half.

Eleven plays, 63 yards, and a touchdown on an eight-run bulldozing run by Jackson.

USC punted and …

Fourteen plays, 81 yards, touchdown with two seconds left in the half on a four-yard pass from Cameron Rising to Jaylen Dixon.

The half ended in a previously unthinkable 17-17 tie with Utah dancing off the field to a deafening roar while the Trojans quietly slinked away.

The Utes took the lead early in the third quarter when Rising hit Money Parks on a pass across the middle just as Trojans defenders Latrell McCutchin and Eric Gentry were colliding behind him in a play symbolic of the evening for USC.

It was messy. It was painful. And in the most unthinkable fashion, was over.