Helium Boys: Utah victorious again, but has the pressure been relieved for 2023 Trojans?

USCFootball.com's Helium Boys, Shotgun Spratling and Chris Trevino, were reunited over the weekend and are back together to try to break down and make sense of USC's 34-32 loss to Utah in this edition of the Helium Boys Podcast. They react to the Trojans' first loss at the Coliseum under Lincoln Riley, a defeat to dreaded Utah on a field goal as time expired, that drops them to 6-2 on the season and all but guarantees USC will not be able to make the College Football Playoff in the final season of the four-team era.

Shotgun and Chris discuss the notable takeaways, including USC's refusal to lean heavily on its run game, the emotions that poured from Bear Alexander after his late targeting penalty, whether or not the Trojans should have gone down at the 1-yard line and the decision by Lincoln Riley to not make any players available to the media.

The Helium Boys open with the 'Two-Minute Drill' giving their initial reactions to the Trojans' loss to Utah and the biggest things that stood out to each of them. In the Stock Up/Stock Down segment, the podcasting duo discuss who impressed, including Romello Height, the Branch brothers and the revamped offensive line. The Helium Boys also look into what stocks took a hit over the weekend like the trust in the run game and the two-point conversion play calling, including the attempted use of cut blocking by the offensive line.

They also look at how the collapse of College Football Playoff goals will affect the team going forward and whether this could be a situation that releases the pressure from players, allowing them to go out and have fun and play to their potential going forward.

Chris and Shotgun also look at the upcoming matchup against California and the Golden Bears grab bag of quarterbacks. The Helium Boys then answer your questions from Twitter, email and Instagram discussing the defense and the overall vibe of the team. Then during the overtime portion of the 'Take It or Leave It' section, Chris questions Shotgun on the top five and bottom five fruits.

Finally, the podcast concludes with the Helium Boys giving their score predictions for the USC-Cal matchup (1 p.m. PDT) in Berkeley this weekend.

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