Meet Sam Darnold, the QB who’s helped turn around USC’s 2016

From almost the outset, there’s been a low ceiling on USC’s season. The Trojans decided to schedule Alabama in their season opener, and it went as badly as one would expect. They took a Christian McCaffrey-fueled loss at Stanford two weeks later, and the next week they lost on a 15-play, 93-yard drive at Utah. They were 1-3.

The Trojans had been figuring out how to replace departed three-year starter Cody Kessler. Junior Max Browne won the starting job out of camp and threw for 474 yards, two touchdowns, and two picks.

The week of that Utah game that ended in heartbreak and head coach Clay Helton made a change. Redshirt freshman Sam Darnold replaced Browne, and Darnold played well enough to win. He had no touchdowns, but he was 18-of-26 passing for 253 yards and didn’t throw an interception.

Darnold’s won his last five starts. If the No. 20 Trojans can manage an upset of No. 4 Washington on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Fox), Darnold will have brought them to the brink of a New Year’s Six Bowl. The turnaround’s been stark.

In high school, when Darnold played for San Clemente (Calif.), he moved around the field. He mostly played outside linebacker and receiver as a sophomore in 2012, and he didn’t become a full-time quarterback until his junior year, when a third-game injury cut his year short. When Darnold finally played a whole year at quarterback, he went 12-2 and made the state final.

“He just took our program to the next level,” then-head coach Jaime Ortiz said. “So if there was one word to kind of describe him, I’d say a winner. A winner, a competitor. And that’s kind of the same thing he’s doing at USC right now.”

Specifically, one who can’t be shoehorned into a role as a zone-read runner, a scrambler, or a drop-back passer. Darnold drew interest from programs that run all sorts of different schemes.

“That’s the one thing about Sam,” Ortiz said. “I think he can fit in in a Stanford offense just as much as he can fit in running zone-read at Texas Tech. For Sam, I think he’s a little bit of both.”

USC has had Darnold run sometimes, but not that often. He’s carried 38 times for about a 5-yard average in his six starts, sometimes on designed plays, sometimes not. He’s been devastatingly efficient as a passer: 20 touchdowns, four interceptions, 8.5 yards per attempt, and a 168.1 rating that’s seventh in the country.

Darnold played baseball and basketball at San Clemente, too. His basketball coach, Marc Popovich, said Darnold is the best player he’s coached in 15 years. His coaches think his different sports worked in concert.

“Basketball, a lot of times, especially with our style of play, was kind of free-flowing in a way,” Popovich said. “There was not necessarily something set every single time down, so he had to get used to playing that way. I think that definitely helped in football. He’d had those things where he’s had bad snaps and he’s rolled out and completed a 32-yard pass, and kind of ridiculous stuff like that. And I think in those improvising situations, the basketball really helps. The ability to read defenses, to see where your teammates are, all that stuff really translates.”

“There’s times when Sam’s been on the basketball court and he’s in a pressure situation,” Ortiz said. “And that’s something you can’t recreate in a weight room or out on the football field doing seven-on-seven.”

Popovich thought Darnold could’ve been a Division I player in hoops if he’d wanted it.

“I think it came down to it he thought he had a higher ceiling in football, which I definitely think he does,” Popovich said. “I don’t think he was ever gonna be an NBA guard.”

Getting to USC afforded Darnold the chance to focus exclusively on one sport, and to develop under Steve Sarkisian and then-coordinator Helton.

He took a redshirt in 2015, because Kessler and Browne were firmly ahead of him on Sarkisian’s depth chart. USC also had former five-star recruit Ricky Town, who transferred to Arkansas shortly after Darnold’s fall camp arrival.

“There was a lot of hubbub about him competing against Ricky Town,” Ortiz said. “Sam made it very clear: ‘I’m not here to compete against Ricky Town or Jalen Greene. I’m going after Cody Kessler, and I wanna be the starting quarterback at USC.’

“That’s been his goal from the time he was a little kid, just watching him practice, his work ethic, and the offseason.”

Now, Darnold’s in an enviable spot. He’ll surely be USC’s quarterback next year, and, depending on his professional prospects, could hold up as a three- or four-year starter. USC recruits at an elite level and will never run out of elite receivers for him to throw to, even though the offensive line’s been occasionally shaky.

The Trojans, on the whole, are still down this year. Colorado or Utah is likely to win the Pac-12 South. But with Darnold, the odds are good things will eventually be OK.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Sam’s gonna do some great things, more so than he’s done already, at USC,” Ortiz said. “I told his parents, ‘Don’t be surprised if he’s at that Heisman ceremony one day.’ I firmly believe that Sam has that opportunity in the future to make that happen.”