Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/763662
SAM'S CLUB | I t was only September, but Southern California's season was already at a crossroads. The Trojans hadn't been competitive in their opener against Ala- bama and had responded to their 52-6 loss to the Crimson Tide by splitting their next two games, routing Utah State, 45-7, but flatlining again in a 27-10 loss to Stanford. A lot of things went wrong in USC's 1-2 start, but the biggest was an offense that couldn't find its rhythm. Redshirt junior quarterback Max Browne was a captain who had been the team's backup QB the two previous seasons. He was the obvious choice to lead the Trojans coming into the 2016 season. But in the losses to Alabama and Stanford, he completed 56 percent of his attempts for 292 yards and didn't throw a single touchdown pass. So coach Clay Helton decided to make a switch. Redshirt freshman Sam Darnold had looked good in practice, and when he spelled Browne in those early-season games, he still looked good. Darnold was promoted to the first team prior to USC's visit to Utah on Sept. 23, and he immedi- ately showed that Helton's confidence hadn't been misplaced, completing 18 of 26 passes for 253 yards. The Trojans weren't able to pull out a victory, but they were competitive for the entire game, building a 10-point fourth-quarter lead before the 24th-ranked Utes rallied for a 31-27 win. It's now been three months since the Trojans' visit to Salt Lake City, and their V S . S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A Freshman Sam Darnold puts his stamp on USC's high-powered offense QUICK STUDY Darnold was the Pac- 12 Freshman Offen- sive Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Manning Award, which goes to the na- tion's top quarter- back. Photo by Percy Anderson