SALT LAKE CITY — Matt Barkley passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns, including an 83-yarder to Marqise Lee in the fourth quarter, and No. 13 Southern California came back from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Utah 38-28 Thursday night.
Utah (2-3, 0-2 Pac-12) forced turnovers 1:16 apart to open the game, including a play by Nate Fakahafua to score from 8 yards out after stripping the ball from Barkley after a bad snap.
But the Trojans (4-1, 2-1) turned the tables in the fourth, scoring twice in a span of less than 3 minutes to turn a 3-point game into victory in their first trip to Salt Lake City in 95 years.
Barkley connected with Lee with 12:10 remaining, then cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted a pass by Jon Hays and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.
Lee finished with 12 catches for 192 yards. The teams combined for 736 yards of offense and 222 yards in penalties.
Utah led 14-0 less than 3 minutes in, and was up 21-10 with 8:54 left in the half after Hays passed 18 yards to DeVonte Christopher, electrifying the fourth-largest crowd in stadium history (46,037).
But Barkley answered with scoring passes to Randall Telfer and Robert Woods as USC took a 24-21 lead into the break.
The Trojans scored 28 straight before Utah put together a late drive.
Before the season the game was being touted as a possible showdown for the Pac-12 South title. But then Stanford upset then-No. 2-ranked USC on Sept. 15 and Utah lost by 30 to Arizona State the following week.
The Trojans have been trying to work their way back to the top of a league with six Pac-12 teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
On Thursday night, they had to fight their way out of a big hole early.
On USC’s second play from scrimmage, Rimington Award candidate Khaled Holmes skidded the snap to Barkley. He managed to pick it up but was hit immediately by defensive end Fakahafua, who spun Barkley around then grabbed the ball out of his hands and sprinted eight yards into the end zone. It gave Utah a 7-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game.
Two plays later reigning Pac-12 defensive lineman of the year Star Lotulelei bulldozed Holmes as he snapped the ball and pounced on the fumble with 12:57 left in the first.
Hays completed an 11-yard TD pass to Kenneth Scott two plays later. Like that Utah was up 14-0 less than 3 minutes into the game.
Barkley brought USC back, driving the Trojans 75 yards in eight plays, capped by Silas Redd’s 3-yard run, to pull USC within 14-7 midway through the first quarter.
After Utah bumped its lead to 21-10, Barkley countered a minute later with a three-play,74-yard TD drive, passing 41 yards to All-American Robert Woods and capping it with a 23-yard strike to tight end Telfer that pulled USC within 21-17.
Barkley gave USC its first lead with 4:38 left in the half on a 6-yard TD pass to Woods on third-and-goal from the 6.
The score was set up when Robey forced tight end Dallin Rogers to fumble on the Utah 34-yard line 3 minutes earlier.
Barkley completed 23 of 30 passes, while Redd had 77 yards rushing on 17 carries before D.J. Morgan took over.
Hays finished 19 of 32 for 160 yards with a pair of touchdowns, but the interception proved costly
Utah also hurt itself with penalties, with eight for 82 yards in the first half alone and 13 for 122 overall.
No. 13 Southern Cal 38, Utah 28
At Rice-Eccles Stadium
Southern Cal 7 17 0 14 — 38
Utah 14 7 0 7 — 28
First quarter
Utah—Fakahafua 8 fumble return (Petersen kick), 14:13.
Utah—Scott 11 pass from Hays (Petersen kick), 12:15.
USC—Redd 3 run (Heidari kick), 7:12.
Second quarter
USC—Heidari 32 field goal, 12:53.
Utah—Christopher 18 pass from Hays (Petersen kick), 8:54.
USC—Telfer 23 pass from Barkley (Heidari kick), 7:54.
USC—R.Woods 6 pass from Barkley (Heidari kick), 4:38.
Fourth quarter
USC—Lee 83 pass from Barkley (Heidari kick), 12:10.
USC—Robey 38 interception return (Heidari kick), 9:30.
Utah—York 5 run (Petersen kick), :38.
A—46,037.
USC Utah
First downs 22 15
Rushes-yards 32-129 22-95
Passing 303 209
Comp-Att-Int 23-30-0 23-38-1
Return yards 69 6
Punts-avg. 2-38.5 6-45.8
Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-1
Penalties-yards 14-100 13-122
Time of possession 32:53 27:07
Individual statistics
Rushing—Southern Cal, Redd 17-77, Morgan 9-46, Akiba 2-12, Lee 1-11, Barkley 1-5, Team 2-(minus 22). Utah, J.White 13-68, York 3-15, Hays 2-6, Dunn 2-4, Wilson 2-2.
Passing—Southern Cal, Barkley 23-30-0-303. Utah, Hays 19-32-1-160, Wilson 4-6-0-49.
Receiving—Southern Cal, Lee 12-192, R.Woods 6-69, Grimble 2-16, Vainuku 2-3, Telfer 1-23. Utah, Christopher 5-62, D.Anderson 5-47, Murphy 5-41, Scott 2-23, Denham 1-11, Matthews 1-8, York 1-6, D.Rogers 1-4, J.White 1-4, Rolf 1-3.
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