Leave it to the feeble Arizona pass defense to hoist Sam Darnold on its shoulders and lift him into the USC record books.
Darnold’s five touchdowns in a 48-14 thrashing of Arizona on Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium is believed to be the most by a freshman quarterback in USC history, a history littered with more all-Americans than a Heisman banquet.
Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, Rodney Peete and Matt Barkley, Cody Kessler and John David Booty. Heck, Carson Palmer. None of them did what Darnold did to Arizona on Saturday. They, too, made defenses look silly, but they weren’t so darn young.
Darnold is, still just a redshirt freshman who was making just his fourth career start.
He got the nod a month ago, with USC wilting after a 1-2 start under redshirt junior quarterback Max Browne. USC coach Clay Helton said the move was necessary at the time, when the Trojans were heading into a crucial matchup with Utah; some fans and media considered Browne the scapegoat for the Trojans’ offensive struggles.
Debate closed: Darnold is now 3-1 as a starter, with 11 touchdowns and one interception in his last three games, all wins.
“I’m just going week-by-week,” the humble Darnold said. “If I progress, I progress, but I think that’s a part of growing, mentally and physically.
“Knowing my arm’s getting tired, knowing I have to settle down a little bit. Mentally, there are a lot of things, that I’ve learned these last few weeks that have really helped me.”
Physically, he’s ahead of the curve.
Darnold uncorked some impeccable passes on Saturday, connecting nine times with Juju Smith-Schuster for 132 yards and three scores, all three coming during a 10-minute stretch of game time between the second and third quarters.
Their final two touchdowns went for 39 and 46 yards, respectively.
“We’re gonna hit them — any deep ball, you hope you’re 1 for 3,” Helton said. “You’d love to be 50 percent, but they were playing a lot of one-high coverage and daring us. We believe in Sam, believe in our wide receivers.”
Darnold’s message to Helton on Saturday: Don’t stop believin’.
When he was pulled during the fourth quarter, Darnold asked Helton to stay in.
“Not to blow his head up too much but he’s playing really good football right now,” Helton said. “Well beyond his years. His maturity level – what I appreciate most is his humility. He threw five and you think you’d get a smile and he said ‘Coach, there are more out there.’ That’s what you want from your leader.”
And Arizona? All Arizona wants right now is a big hole to crawl in, anything to stop the rain.
Two weeks after UCLA sophomore Josh Rosen fleeced the Wildcats for 350 yards and three scores, Darnold was even better.
What is it with Los Angeles quarterbacks and Arizona? Well, as Khalil Tate proved on Saturday, not much – the Wildcats’ answer to Darnold showed every bit his age, completing 7 of 18 passes for 58 yards and an interception.
Darnold, meanwhile, has the looks and demeanor of a 31-year-old veteran.
More importantly, the play.
“I thought he did a great job of protecting the ball and getting down,” Helton said. “Not forcing the ball — you’re not seeing a lot of forced throws by him. His eyes stay downfield, and that’s what you want from a quarterback.”
Darnold, to his credit, knows he’s just at the beginning of a long career, but he’s taking things as they come.
There is a huge difference between practice speed and game speed, and the game snaps are vital,” he said. “I’m learning in that area, and I think I’ll continue to progress.”
And to Helton’s credit, he’s not letting his quarterback get too full of himself. Yet. It’s hard to stay humble as the USC star quarterback. Ask Leinart.
“You think of the quarterback lineage here — you start with Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley, Cody Kessler, Matt Cassel – you can go on and on,” Helton said. “But (Darnold) has done a tremendous job staying level-headed. Everybody is talking about him right now, but he’s playing really good football. I had a chance to be around Matt Barkley at this age, Cody Kessler ... he’s playing as good if not better.”
