Page 4 October 5, 2017
Lawndale Cardinals Defeat Torrance Tartars 42-0
All Photos by Dirk Dewachter
Jalen Hamler #15) eludes Torrance’s Brian Downie (#21).
The Magic Runs out for Sam Darnold, USC Trojans
to mistakes and eventually puts stress on the
defense and the team as a whole. While he has
thrown nine touchdown passes this season, he
has also thrown eight interceptions through just
the first five games in what can be seen as a
clear attempt to simply try to do too much for
his team. Darnold threw nine interceptions all
of last season through 10 total starts. While
USC’s starting quarterback remains one of
the top prospects in all of college football, it
may be his inconsistent play that has led the
team to risky performances and the first loss
of the regular season rather than becoming
the top team in the nation.
The Trojans and Darnold still have the
opportunity to turn things around following
their loss and drop in the rankings. This week’s
date against the Oregon State Beavers should
be the perfect get-right game before USC
takes on the currently 20th-ranked Utah Utes.
Matchups against Notre Dame and UCLA will
round out the schedule for the Trojans as they
look to rebound and make it into this year’s
Pac-12 championship game. While USC and
Darnold are fully expected to shake off the
rust and win every game remaining on their
schedule, there is no doubting the fact that
a bit of the magic surrounding the team and
their quarterback has now been lost.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
By Adam Serrao
The projected number one quarterback
in next year’s NFL Draft finally had his
(and his team’s) magic run out last Friday
night in Pullman when the fifth-ranked USC
Trojans took on the number 26 Washington
State Cougars. Though the game was close
and particularly exciting in the final quarter
of play, Sam Darnold was outplayed by his
Washington State counterpart, Luke Falk.
There is absolutely no doubting the fact that
this year’s Trojan team is exciting, to say the
least, but their 30-27 loss on the road may just
have proven that they are vulnerable as well.
Darnold is the engine that makes the USC
Trojans Mack Truck run. Despite being the
heart of the team, however, the quarterback
was extremely inconsistent in last week’s
loss to the Cougars. While Darnold watched
Falk complete 34 of 51 passes for 340 yards
and two touchdowns, he struggled mightily-
-completing just 15 of 29 passes through
the air for 164 yards and an interception.
Multiple injuries along the Trojans offensive
line certainly didn’t help Darnold and his
team’s cause either, but there is now reason to
believe that the sophomore quarterback might
need a bit more experience before he’s ready
to be called one of the best quarterbacks in
all of college football.
Despite not throwing for a touchdown,
Darnold was able to run it in not once, but
twice for touchdowns on the ground. Even
still, it was the first time in 15 career starts
that he failed to throw for more than 200
yards as his passes were inconsistent and
his decisions remained questionable at best.
It was even Darnold who gave away the ball
on the final possession of the game as he
tried to lead his team from behind to victory,
fumbling the ball directly into the arms of
the waiting Washington State defense.
“I thought Sam made some really good plays
and there wasn’t good plays,” said Trojans
quarterbacks coach Tyson Helton. “That’s
playing quarterback, though. You’re going to
have some good plays and you’re not going
to have good plays.” Darnold’s struggles may
be more telling of one bad night on the job
as opposed to a quarterback who’s simply
not ready yet, though. His inconsistency is
certainly hurting the Trojans, but a subpar
offensive line may have more to do with bad
play coming from the quarterback position
than anything else. USC lost three starters
on the O-line to the NFL this offseason and
another three to injury this year already. A
team that gave up a total of 12 sacks all of
last season has already given up nine through
five games of the regular season.
Despite injuries mounting up, neither
Washington State nor any other opponent
will feel bad for USC or give the Trojans
any breaks. Even Darnold acknowledged that
as a quarterback and leader on the team, he
needs to play better. “I think I didn’t play
my best, for sure,” he explained. “There’s a
lot to learn from. We’re going to look at the
film and learn from there.” Darnold was thrust
into his first role as starting quarterback of
the USC Trojans almost exactly one year ago
to the week. To say that he is not necessarily
the best quarterback in all of college football
is less of a crucifixion of the sophomore
and more of an admission that no matter
how talented you are, there is much to learn
going forward about a position as complex
and important as the quarterback position is.
The Trojans’ winning streak has officially
ended at 13 games and has dropped the team
out of the number five seed in the rankings.
USC had previously looked vulnerable in
its last two games against Texas and Cal,
respectively. Those vulnerabilities finally
caught up with them all at once in the loss
to the Cougars. It wasn’t just Darnold’s
fumble that lost the team the game. It was
the lack of execution on both sides of the
ball that allowed Washington State to hang
around all night before it finally pulled the
rug out from underneath the Trojans.
As good as Darnold has the potential to
be, it is perhaps his aggressiveness that leads
Joseph Edwards (Lawndale #23) tackles Torrance’s Ethan Meyers (Torrance #4) in the opening drive of Torrance at Lawndale
Jordan Wilmore (Lawndale #1) stiff-arms an approaching Nathan Gottlieb (Torrance #18).
Jalen Hamler (Lawndale #15) prepares to throw a long pass to
Jonathan Blackman for a 70-yard touchdown.
Josh Barbarin (Lawndale #11) gained some significant yardage
early on during the first quarter. He left the game with a concussion
in the third quarter after a collision on a punt return.