Sam Darnold Named Pac-12 Player of the Week After USC Win Over UW

USC’s Sam Darnold was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after helping the Trojans upset Washington in Seattle on Saturday night.

When Sam Darnold took the field at Husky Stadium on Saturday, he was expected to be the second-best quarterback in the house. Instead, the USC gunslinger put on a show against the elite Washington defense, earning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors as a result.

Darnold finished with a stat line of 287 yards on 23-of-33 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also used his fee to run for 15 yards on four carries. His quarterback rating of 150 was the highest by a Husky opponent all season.

Those stats hardly do his performance justice.

The quarterback was calm and collected in a hostile environment. He stood tall in the pocket, scrambling away when necessary, keeping his eyes downfield to find his receivers at an astonishing rate — as Pro Football Focus noted on Sunday, he was 11-of-12 for 199 yards and two touchdowns on passes that went longer than ten yards.

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With Darnold running the show, USC’s offense put up 24 points and 400 total yards on a defense which had handled nearly every other attack they had faced with ease.

This is the first time a Trojan has won Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on offense. Adoree Jackson picked up special teams honors back in Week 2.

Along with Darnold, Utah’s Hunter Dimick took home the defensive recognition with five sacks against ASU. On special teams, Washington State’s Kaleb Fossum was honored after returning a punt 75 yards for a score against Cal.

Adoree’ Jackson was nominated for Defensive Player of the Week thanks to his two-interception performance while Rasheem Green was nominated on special teams as he blocked a kick.