USC vs. Utah: Score and Twitter Reaction

Quarterback Troy Williams hit Tim Patrick for an 18-yard game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in the game to give the No. 24 Utah Utes a 31-27 win over the USC Trojans on Friday night from Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Utah Athletics showed the game-winning score:

Utah overcame a two-touchdown, third-quarter deficit to pull out the win and improve to 4-0 on the season, while USC dropped to 1-3.

It left former Atlanta Braves great Dale Murphy floored:

Williams led the Utes with 270 passing yards and three total touchdowns, while running back Zack Moss added 90 yards on the ground. 

Coming into Friday, USC made a change at quarterback as it sat Max Browne for redshirt freshman Sam Darnold. 

A redshirt junior, Browne led the Trojans offense to just 16 points combined in their two losses to No. 1 Alabama and No. 7 Stanford. 

Darnold though made his collegiate debut on Friday against a Utah defense that hadn't allowed over 20 points in a game this season.

However, Darnold managed to put together a strong showing with 279 total yards and one rushing touchdown. USC's biggest offensive contributor was running back Justin Davis, who recorded 126 yards on 10 carries.

The defense had been Utah's backbone this season, which included a 10-sack effort during Week 3 against San Jose State. Fueled by that performance, the Utes cracked the Top 25 rankings for the first time this year heading into Week 4. 

It was that unit and defensive back Chase Hansen that stripped Davis of the ball to bring the Trojans' first possession to a screeching halt.

The early mistake made FanRag Sports' Will Reeve bring up USC head coach Clay Helton's job security:

Utah took full advantage of the takeaway, driving 59 yards on 12 plays that was capped off by Williams' 10-yard touchdown run. The Utes ran the ball on every play, impressing ESPN's Ted Miller:

It allowed USCFootball.com's Ryan Abraham to teach Trojans fans an early lesson:

USC didn't stay down for long though. On the ensuing kickoff, Adoree' Jackson took it 100 yards to the house to tie things up, via the Pac-12 Network: 

CBS Sports' Aaron Torres saw it as USC's biggest play of its young season:

Former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart recognized greatness when he saw it:

Jackson came up big on defense less than four minutes later when he recovered a fumble that was put on the ground by Moss. The Utes were moving the ball on the ground at will once again before the turnover and were inside USC's 40-yard-line before Moss' giveaway. 

But the Pac-12 Network realized that this game was all about Jackson:

However, the Trojans' joy was short-lived as USC fumbled the ball away on its next two possessions. First, it was Darnold who fumbled after a 14-yard scramble on the Utah 15-yard-line. 

Chris Vannini of CoachingSearch.com wasn't impressed with the freshman:

After forcing a punt, USC drove from its 3-yard line into Utah territory early in the second quarter, but running back Ronald Jones was stuffed on a 3rd-and-2 and coughed the ball up to Utah. 

Chris Hummer of 247Sports tried to figure out what was going on with USC's offense:

Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee believed that the Trojans were doing their best impression of recording artist and USC fan Snoop Dogg:

Utah was only able to get three points out of the two fumbles when Andy Phillips hit a 36-yard field goal with 6:39 left to play in the half. 

Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel realized that it was a big missed opportunity for the Utes:

USC almost gave away a fourth fumble on the following possession when Darnold was drilled from behind by Hansen and lost the ball. But it was deemed that his arm was going forward and ruled an incomplete pass. 

The following play, Davis ripped off a 50-yard run into Utah territory and allowed USC's offense to grab some momentum.

Davis capped off the five-play, 61-yard drive with a 14-yard rush to give the Trojans their first lead of the night at 14-10, via the Pac-12 Network:

It was the senior running back's sixth rush of the night, and it put him over the 100-yard mark at 102 with 4:42 left in the half. He was the first running back in two years to rush for 100 yards or more against Utah's defense, per the FS1 telecast. 

KUTV's David James began to fear for the Utes:

USC's defense forced a quick Utah three-and-out and managed to tack on another three points with 37 seconds left to take a 17-10 lead heading into halftime. 

In order to get into field-goal range, Darnold had to drive USC 71 yards down the field, which took him one minutes, 55 seconds while running 12 plays.

Unlike Vannini, FS1's Colin Cowherd liked what he saw from the young quarterback:

Darnold put the Trojans up 24-10 with an eight-yard rush for USC's third consecutive touchdown, via Pac-12 Network: 

It was clear to ESPN Los Angeles' John Ireland that the only team that was going to beat USC was USC:

But Utah found a response with 4:19 left in the the third to make it a one-score game. With the ball on the 1-yard line, running back Armand Shyne was hit at the goal line and fumbled the ball.

After it popped straight up, offensive lineman Isaac Asiata recovered it in the end zone. It was just how Pac-12 Network's Ashley Adamson jokingly believed Utah drew it up:

USC regained a 10-point lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Matt Boermeester knocked home a 43-yard field goal, but Utah responded once again to make it a three-point game with 9:45 left in the game. 

Williams completed five passes on an 11-play, 75-yard drive, which ended with him hitting Raelon Singleton on a 10-yard hook in the front corner of the end zone. He had completed just 10 passes before the drive that made it a 27-24 game. 

It was making Pablo Lopez of the Sacramento Bee feel uneasy:

But the Trojans punted with six minutes left in the game from Utah's 37, forcing Michael Castillo of FanSided to start thinking of hypothetical reactions to the game's finish:

Getting the ball back on their own 7-yard line, the Utes methodically moved the ball down the field and were helped by an Iman Marshall pass interference penalty on a 3rd-and-10 along with a pair of fourth-down conversions in Trojan territory to set up Williams' winning completion to Patrick. 

Utah's final drive used 15 plays for 93 yards over 5:21 and left former USC running back LenDale White disgusted:

For the first time since 2001, USC has started a season 1-3, per the FS1 telecast. Utah, on the other hand, is 4-0 for the second consecutive season as it continues to develop into a Pac-12 power.