USC Falls Short in True Game of Inches, Spoils Chance at Pac-12 Title

No. 20 USC tried to walk the tightrope one too many times in its 24-21 loss at No. 19 Utah Saturday, and falling inches short cost the Trojans immeasurably in the Pac-12 championship race. 

Taking a pitch from quarterback Cody Kessler, wide receiver Nelson Agholor broke up the sideline for a fourth-down run that, if converted, would salt away USC's four-point lead. But Agholor stepped out of bounds just one yard shy of the first-down marker, turning over possession to the Utes for their game-winning drive. 

Consider Agholor's misstep karma for the few inches that broke the Trojans' way earlier. Two Utah drives stalled at the USC one-yard line when the Utes coughed up fumbles. 

One came on a strip made by cornerback Adoree' Jackson, who had nothing but turf 99 yards ahead of him but the play was whistled dead. 

Seeing both the winning and losing ends of that game of inches is nothing new for this USC team. It's been the Trojans' M.O. for much of the Pac-12 season, and head coach Steve Sarkisian even addressed it after their Week 7 win at Arizona when he said they were a Hail Mary against Arizona State away from being a Top Five team.  

True as that may be, USC also benefited from a wayward field-goal attempt in the final seconds at Arizona, as well as repeated red-zone failures by the Stanford offense in Week 2. 

USC surged ahead in the Pac-12 South with wins that were decided by a few feet. Now, the Trojans find themselves looking up at three teams because of a few feet. 

Of course, offensive deficiencies plagued USC well before Agholor stepped out of bounds on a play-call sure to be heavily scrutinized in the coming days. 

After an impressive second drive, which culminated with Kessler finding John "JuJu" Smith for a 10-yard score, the USC offense went stagnant for 45 minutes of game time. 

Smith's touchdown reception and Kessler's four-yard connection with Darreus Rogers in the fourth quarter book-ended a 100-yard kickoff return for a score by Jackson in the second quarter. 

Otherwise, USC's offense was rendered stagnant. That's been a recurring problem for the Trojans in 2014, with their Week 8 rout of Colorado seemingly reigniting that side of the ball. 

But it was abundantly clear Saturday in Rice-Eccles Stadium that Utah isn't Colorado. 

Utah demonstrated why it entered Week 9 with the nation's No. 21-ranked run defense. USC running back Javorius "Buck" Allen went for 101 yards, but he had to work for every bit of it with a 3.7-yard per carry average. 

The USC defense matched Utah blow-for-blow, very nearly making a third stop at the one-yard line to win it.

But after Utah's first play from the goal line failed, quarterback Travis Wilson found Kaelin Clay on a roll-out for the game-winner.  

Two Pac-12 South losses sealed by touchdown passes with zeroes on the clock could be all it takes to keep USC out of the conference title picture. 

The Trojans trail Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, each of which has just one conference game. USC handed Arizona its lone defeat, thus the Trojans just need one more Wildcats loss. 

But by losing to both the Sun Devils and Utes, USC's one-game deficit in the division is more like two. Both hold tiebreakers over the Trojans. 

Now the inches that eluded the Trojans look a lot more like miles in an increasingly contentious Pac-12 South race. 

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics via CFBstats.com and USAToday.com.