Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 28, 2016 35 BY MATT JONES B ecause of one player, South- ern Cal's football future is bright. Sam Darnold, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman quarterback for the Trojans, has turned around the fortunes of the program since being inserted as the starter prior to their 31-27 loss at Utah Sept. 23. After a 1-3 start to the season — including an embarrassing 52-6 loss to Alabama in the opener — the Tro- jans have won six s t r a i g h t g a m e s and rose to No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings. And it all starts w i t h D a r n o l d , whose dual-threat abilities have car- ried USC. "As long as he's there and playing well, he'll com- pete for a Heis- man and they're going to compete for something special, that's going to be the expectation for USC," said Chris Swanson, the publisher of Tro- janSports.com. Darnold completed 69.7 percent of his passes (23 of 33) in a Nov. 12 matchup at No. 4 Washington. The 6-4, 225-pounder threw for 287 yards with two touchdowns and two inter- ceptions, and also ran for 15 yards on four carries. He supplanted Max Browne, a for- mer five-star prospect and the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2013. Browne was named the starter af- ter preseason practices concluded, though Darnold gave the redshirt junior a good battle. "A lot of people thought that Sam Darnold won it in the fall and was the better quarterback, but at the end of the day, Clay Helton had to make the decision and he just decided to go with the older, more experienced guy that still had a lot of pedigree," Swanson said. "Max Browne was the former No. 1 quarterback in his class, and he saw that game against Ala- bama coming, and he just decided to play it safe and go with the older guy." The Trojans offense struggled dur- ing their 1-3 start, losing to Alabama, Stanford and Utah. Browne was 55- of-87 passing for 474 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first three games as the starter. First-year head coach Clay Hel- ton — who served in an interim role last year after Steve Sarkisian was fired — told reporters that his team "needed a spark" when he made the switch to Darnold, a former four-star prospect who chose USC over Colo- rado State, Duke, Nevada, North- western, Oregon and Oregon State. "The quarterback change did help, because a lot of players on the team thought it was a hotly contested battle," Swanson said. "There were players on the team that definitely felt like Sam Darnold would give their offense a better chance. Just that change, and feeling like it's a fresh start a little bit, helped." Since that loss to Utah, USC hasn't looked back. The Trojans have wins over Arizona State, Colorado, Ari- zona, California, Oregon and Wash- ington, using an effective running game of sophomore running back Ronald Jones II and senior Justin Da- vis. Jones had 772 yards and eight touchdowns through 10 games, while Davis had 480 yards. Still, it's Darnold — who has thrown for 2,161 yards and 22 touchdowns through 10 games — that makes USC's of- fense go, Swanson said. "Sam Darnold might be a once- in-a-generation- t y p e t a l e n t a t quarterback, and t h e y ' re a c o m - pletely different team with him," Swanson said. "I think the world of Max Browne. With a quarterback like Max Browne or a Cody Kessler, who's a third-round draft pick, they're probably a fringe top-25 team, but Sam Darnold is the difference maker. "He's incredibly talented, he's hard to defend, hard to sack and it seems like the offense goes with him." Defensively, USC is strong across the board. The Trojans have high- quality linebackers in Porter Gustin, Uchenna Nwosu, Cam Smith and Michael Hutchings, which makes GAME PREVIEW: USC Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. USC Game Info Date: Nov. 26, 2016. Site: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (93,607). Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. Television: ABC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 88th all-time meeting between USC and Notre Dame. The Irish are 46-36-5 against the Trojans. In their last meeting in 2015, the Irish beat USC 41-31 in South Bend. Coaches: USC — Clay Helton (14-7, first season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (59-30, seventh season). Noting USC: The Trojans' six-game winning streak is their longest since 2008 … According to the USA Today Sagarin rankings as of Nov. 17, USC has played the nation's eighth-toughest schedule … Helton, who played quarterback at both Auburn and Houston, was the offensive coordinator under both Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian at USC before receiving the full-time head coaching job after last season … In his short career, Helton has led the Trojans to wins over five ranked opponents, including two top-five foes (with its 26-13 win over then-No. 4 Washington Nov. 12 the most recent) … Notre Dame is 19-22-4 all-time on the road at USC, including a 49-14 loss in 2014. DANGEROUS DARNOLD The Trojans' freshman quarterback is carrying their offense in 2016 Freshman quarterback Sam Darnold has been a big part of USC's offensive success during its six- game winning streak, throwing for 2,161 yards and 22 touchdowns through 10 games. PHOTO BY PERCY ANDERSON/COURTESY USC