No. 14 Utah at No. 18 USC: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

No. 14 Utah (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) at No. 18 USC (6-1, 4-0)

Kickoff: Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT.
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
TV: Fox.
Livestream: foxsports.com/live.
Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM.
Series: USC leads 13-9.
Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the low 70s at kickoff.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes rebounded from a road to Oregon State with a 34-14 win over Cal after a bye. Utah has won three straight against USC, including last season’s Pac-12 championship game.

For USC: The Trojans started the year undefeated, but suffered their first loss of the season last week vs. Notre Dame in South Bend. USC had five turnovers in the 48-20 loss.

What to watch for

Does Utah have enough offensive firepower to keep up with USC?

Assuming the Utes play a good defensive game, holding USC to 31 points — 16.3 points below the Trojans’ season average — Utah would have to score over 31 points to win, something they’ve done just once this season, scoring 34 points in a win over Cal.

The Trojans’ defense is No. 96 of 130 FBS teams in points allowed per game (30), No. 89 in passing yards allowed (244.6) and No. 82 in rushing yards allowed (152.4).

The Utes are still far from full strength on offense — quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe are still yet to play, and tight end Thomas Yassmin, wide receiver Mycah Pittman, running back Micah Bernard and running back Chris Curry are out for the season.

It’ll be a tough task for the Utes, which hope to continue putting up yards after posting a season-high 445 yards of offense in last Saturday’s win.

If Cam Rising doesn’t play, it’ll be Bryson Barnes at quarterback again. Barnes completed 15 of 21 passes for 128 yards, adding 50 yards and a score on the ground. Safety Sione Vaki, who was used against Cal as a running back, will play both ways again. Vaki rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns last week, including a 72-yard score to ice the game.

Key player

Caleb Williams, USC quarterback: The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is coming off the worst game of his college career. He threw three interceptions in USC’s loss at Notre Dame.

Williams is the leader of USC’s No. 2-ranked scoring offense and averages 288 passing yards per game.

He’s deft at getting away from pass rushers, is hard to bring down, and can beat you with his legs. Williams has plenty of receiver talent, with Tahj Washington and Brenden Rice both over 450 yards receiving on the season.

Wanting to preserve any chance at the College Football Playoff in what will likely be his final season of college football, expect the presumed No. 1 NFL draft pick to be at the top of his game on Saturday.

Quotable

“I don’t want to call it a rivalry because I don’t think that’s the situation, but it’s been a great back-and-forth series. Implications typically every year, most every year. Conference implications, championship implications. Of course we played them in the championship game last year, so it’s turned out to be a very competitive and a very intense football game and I’m sure this year will be no different.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.

“Reality is you’re undefeated in the best conference probably in college football right now, which is pretty good shape and with some cool opportunities ahead with starting right here with a really good Utah team and program that, like I said, we know very well and we understand the importance of this game, the opportunity that this game is.” — USC coach Lincoln Riley.

Next up

Utah: vs. Oregon on Oct. 28.
Cal: at Cal on Oct. 28.

Utah schedule

Aug. 31 — Utah 24, Florida 11.
Sept. 9 — Utah 20, Baylor 13.
Sept. 16 — Utah 31, Weber State 7.
Sept. 23 — Utah 14, UCLA 7.
Sept. 29 — Oregon State 21, Utah 7.
Oct. 14 — Utah 34, Cal 14.
Oct. 21 — at USC (6 p.m. MDT, Fox).
Oct. 28 — vs. Oregon (1:30 p.m. MDT, Fox).
Nov. 4 — vs. Arizona State.
Nov. 11 — at Washington.
Nov. 18 — at Arizona.
Nov. 25 — vs. Colorado.