January 4, 2018 Page 3
Trojans End 2017 with Bowl Loss
By Adam Serrao
With a 24-7 loss in the Cotton Bowl
last Friday night, the USC Trojans fell in
their final game of the season and were
defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes for
the first time since 1975. The Trojans may
not have lost the game as much as Ohio
State’s defense won it, but quarterback Sam
Darnold certainly had his share of mistakes
that wound up costing the team. While
the Trojans took to the field as this year’s
Pac-12 champions, the Buckeyes took the
field looking to prove a point. After being
snubbed from the College Football Playoff,
their 17-point victory at AT&T Stadium in
Texas proved that they at least belonged in
the conversation. That same playoff snubbing
is also perhaps what gave Ohio State
the extra motivation it needed to send the
Trojans back to Los Angeles with USC’s
third loss of the season.
Throwing for 365 yards wouldn’t normally
seem like such a bad way to end a college
football season. When those 365 yards are
accompanied by three turnovers and eight
sacks in a 24-7 loss, though, that ending
quickly begins to lose its fairytale luster.
“Whenever you turn the ball over that much,
it’s hard to win games,” Darnold said at his
postgame press conference. “Just a lot of
stuff where we shot ourselves in the foot.”
That’s exactly what the Trojans did last
Friday night--shot themselves in the foot.
USC had four turnovers that led to 21 Ohio
State points, the first of which occurred on
the third play from scrimmage as cornerback
Kendall Sheffield stripped receiver Deontay
Burnett, giving the Buckeyes a one-touchdown
lead less than three minutes into the
game. As if that weren’t enough, Darnold
and the Trojans would give up plenty more
before the half. A second quarter pick-six
by safety Damon Webb that was returned
23 yards put USC in an even deeper hole
before Darnold lost a fumble just before the
half that led to another two-play, 59-yard
touchdown drive for Ohio State. The Buckeyes
would take a 24-7 lead into the half.
It was a leaky offensive line that undoubtedly
led to USC’s season-ending
loss and Darnold’s struggles in the game.
A monstrous total of eight sacks seemed
to understate the amount of times that the
Buckeyes’ defensive front was immediately
in the backfield, rushing Darnold’s hand
into making a decision. The Trojans were
held scoreless in the second half of play.
The only time the team did score on the
night was after Ohio State muffed a punt,
setting Ronald Jones II and the USC offense
up in excellent field position for the
team’s only score of the game in the second
quarter of play.
All in all, Darnold’s typical inconsistency
Marijuana from front page
was on display at the professional football
stadium last week. It’s obvious that the
quarterback has the ability to make the most
jaw-dropping passes in all of college football.
Even some quarterbacks in the NFL seem
incapable of making the throws that Darnold
completes to his wide receivers at times.
Just when the 6-foot-4 sophomore seems
to get rolling, though, the inconsistency
that has bothered him all season long rears
its ugly head again. He misses wide open
wide receivers and fails to take care of the
football--both of which oftentimes lead the
Trojans to having to come from behind or
in some cases even lose the game.
Darnold’s three turnovers in the game
raise his personal total on the year to 22.
That number alone is reportedly higher than
101 other FBS teams, according to Sports
Illustrated. Playing behind an offensive line
that is clearly in shambles certainly doesn’t
help his cause. Neither does taking that same
offensive line to go up against the extremely
elite pass rush of Ohio State. “Our defensive
line won that game,” Buckeyes head coach
Urban Meyer explained. “That quarterback,
we’ve got a lot of respect for him--but the
best way to disrupt a quarterback is to get
after him and we did. If you don’t let him
set his feet, you have a chance. You saw
there at the end of the game that quarterback
never set his feet.”
All of the chatter now surrounding the
Trojans, and more specifically Darnold, will
turn to questioning whether or not he’ll be
back at USC for his junior season or take
the journey into the NFL. Darnold will be
forced to make up his mind by the deadline
to declare on January 15, if he hasn’t
made up his mind already by the time this
article is published. Cases can be made
for him either staying or going, but in his
own words, Darnold has stated, “I’m really
just focused on just hanging out with my
teammates for the next couple of days. But
it’s tough. I’ll look at everything and make
my decision after that.”
On one hand, another year in college
certainly won’t hurt the maturation process
of a quarterback who clearly still needs just
a little bit more of it. On the other, an NFL
coaching staff would certainly help Darnold
in maximizing his potential. Oh, and the
millions of dollars he’d receive by signing
an NFL contract... There’s always that too.
Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
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