2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game

2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game
Conference championship
Utah Utes USC Trojans
(9–3) (11–1)
47 24
Head coach: 
Kyle Whittingham		 Head coach: 
Lincoln Riley
APCoachesCFP
121211
APCoachesCFP
444
1234 Total
Utah 314723 47
USC 14307 24
DateDecember 2, 2022
Season2022
StadiumAllegiant Stadium
LocationParadise, NV
MVPQB Cameron Rising, Utah
FavoriteUSC by 3
RefereeChris Coyte
Attendance61,195
United States TV coverage
NetworkFox
ESPN Radio
AnnouncersFox: Jason Benetti, Brock Huard and Allison Williams
ESPN Radio: Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer and Ian Fitzsimmons
Pac-12 Football Championship Game
 < 2021  2023 > 
2022 Pac-12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 12 USC y   8 – 1     11 – 3  
No. 10 Utah y$   7 – 2     10 – 4  
No. 8 Washington   7 – 2     11 – 2  
No. 15 Oregon   7 – 2     10 – 3  
No. 17 Oregon State   6 – 3     10 – 3  
No. 21 UCLA   6 – 3     9 – 4  
Washington State   4 – 5     7 – 6  
Arizona   3 – 6     5 – 7  
California   2 – 7     4 – 8  
Arizona State†   1 – 7     1 – 9  
Stanford   1 – 8     3 – 9  
Colorado   1 – 8     1 – 11  
Championship: Utah 47, USC 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 2, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas-area community of Paradise, Nevada. It was the 12th edition of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, and determined the champion of the Pac-12 Conference for the 2022 season. The game began at 5:00 p.m. PST and aired on Fox.[1] The contest featured the USC Trojans, the team with the best conference record, and the Utah Utes, the team with the second best conference record. Sponsored by gas station chain 76, the game will officially be known as the 2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game presented by 76.[2]

This was the first Pac-12 Football Championship Game to not feature the champions of the North and South Division. The Pac-12 got rid of its divisions following the NCAA Division 1 Council's ruling that conferences could determine the teams participating in its championship game.[3] Utah became the third team in the Conference Championship era to repeat as Pac 12 champions.

Teams

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USC Trojans

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Main article: 2022 USC Trojans football team

The Trojans clinched a spot in the championship game following its defeat of UCLA on November 19.[4]

Utah Utes

[edit]
Main article: 2022 Utah Utes football team

Going into the final week of the conference season (weekend of November 26), the Oregon Ducks, Washington Huskies and Utah Utes were in contention to face USC in the championship game.[5]

Oregon lost 38–34 at Oregon State, leaving the Ducks dependent on a Washington State win to make the title game. Utah, which remained alive going into Saturday's games thanks to UCLA defeating California 35–28 on November 25, defeated Colorado 63–21, eliminating Washington from contention and putting the Utes in position to advance to the title game with a Washington win. With Washington's 51–33 win over Washington State, Utah clinched the second spot to the game. Utah won its first back-to-back conference championship since 2003 and 2004.

Game summary

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Scoring summary

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2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game presented by 76
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 11 Utes 3 14 72347
No. 4 Trojans 14 3 0724

at Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, Nevada

Game information
1st quarter
  • (11:58) USC – Tahj Washington 2-yard pass from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:32; USC 7–0)
  • (6:22) UTAH – Jadon Redding 25-yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 68 yards, 5:06; USC 7–3)
  • (3:40) USC – Raleek Brown 3-yard pass from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 3:18; USC 14–3)
2nd quarter
  • (12:14) USC – Denis Lynch 20-yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 71 yards, 4:45; USC 17–3)
  • (4:42) UTAH – Ja'Quinden Jackson 8-yard run, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 11 plays, 63 yards, 6:39; USC 17–10)
  • (0:11) UTAH – Jaylen Dixon 4-yard pass from Cameron Rising, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 14 plays, 81 yards, 1:44; USC 17–17)
3rd quarter
  • (10:48) UTAH – Money Parks 57-yard pass from Cameron Rising, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 3 plays, 48 yards, 1:03; Utah 24–17)
4th quarter
  • (15:00) UTAH – Jadon Redding 35-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 41 yards, 5:15; Utah 27–17)
  • (11:37) USC – Mario Williams 12-yard pass from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:04; Utah 27–24)
  • (10:52 UTAH – Thomas Yassmin 60-yard pass from Cameron Rising, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 2 plays, 75 yards, 0:44; Utah 34–24)
  • (6:18) UTAH – Ja'Quinden Jackson 53-yard run (Drive: 3 plays, 46 yards, 1:38; Utah 40–24)
  • (2:39) UTAH – Micah Bernard 23-yard run, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 3 plays, 38 yards, 1:39; Utah 47-24)

Statistics

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Team statistics

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Team statistical comparison[6]
Statistic No. 11 Utah No. 4 USC
First downs 25 19
First downs rushing 11 5
First downs passing 12 14
First downs penalty 2 0
Third down efficiency 5 of 11 1 of 12
Fourth down efficiency 1 of 1 3 of 5
Total plays–net yards 69–533 68–419
Rushing attempts–net yards 35–223 27–56
Yards per rush 6.4 2.1
Yards passing 310 363
Pass completions–attempts 22–34 28–41
Interceptions thrown 1–29 0–0
Punt returns–total yards 0–0 0–0
Kickoff returns–total yards 0–0 5–82
Punts–total yardage 3–131 4–166
Fumbles–lost 2–1 2–1
Penalties–yards 5–45 4–39
Time of possession 29:49 30:11

Individual statistics

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USC statistics[6]
Trojans passing
C–A Yds TD INT
Caleb Williams 28–41 363 3 1
Trojans rushing
Car Yds TD Avg
Austin Jones 15 35 0 2.3
Caleb Williams 12 21 0 1.8
Trojans receiving
Rec Yds TD Avg
Tahj Washington 6 93 1 15.5
Jordan Addison 5 65 0 13.0
Mario Williams 3 51 1 17.0
Brenden Rice 3 42 0 14.0
Austin Jones 4 40 0 10.0
Kyle Ford 2 38 0 19.0
Lake McRee 1 15 0 15.0
Darwin Barlow 1 3 0 3.0
Raleek Brown 2 -1 1 -0.5
UTAH statistics[6]
Utes passing
C–A Yds TD INT
Cameron Rising 22–34 310 3 0
Utes rushing
Car Yds TD Avg
Ja'Quinden Jackson 13 105 2 8.1
Micah Bernard 11 88 1 8.0
Cameron Rising 8 18 0 2.3
Nate Jackson 1 7 0 7.0
Jaylen Dixon 2 5 0 2.5
Utes receiving
Rec Yds TD Avg
Money Parks 4 88 1 22.0
Thomas Yassmin 2 81 1 40.5
Jaylen Dixon 6 55 1 9.2
Micah Bernard 5 41 0 8.2
Dalton Kincaid 4 40 0 10.0
Nate Johnson 1 5 0 5.0

Aftermath

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USC would drop to #10 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, while the idle Ohio State Buckeyes rose to the #4 to earn a playoff berth. The Trojans were invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic where they lost to AAC Champion Tulane 46–45. Utah played in the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by Penn State 35–21.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Pac-12 returns to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium for the 2022 Football Championship Game, presented by 76®". Pac-12 Conference. November 23, 2022. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  2. ^ "Pac-12 extends and expands major sponsorship with 76®". Pac-12 Conference. January 21, 2020. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "Pac-12 scraps divisions after NCAA Division I Council votes to eliminate requirements for FBS conference title games". espn.com. May 18, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "Caleb Williams wills USC to thrilling 48-45 win over UCLA; Trojans clinch Pac-12 title game berth". si.com. November 19, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  5. ^ "Laying out the updated Pac-12 Championship Game matchup scenarios after Week 12". usatoday.com. November 20, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Game Report - Utah vs. Southern California" (PDF). Utah Utes Football. December 2, 2022.
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