USC Football Roundup: Matt Fink’s chances pondered and more (7/30)

Quarterback Matt Fink’s chances of winning the starting job were pondered while Sam Darnold ended his hold out. Here’s the USC football roundup for July 30.

More. 5 Media Day Takeaways

Matt Fink was on the mind on Monday, at least in the sphere of USC football coverage.

The OC Register’s Joey Kaufman penned a profile of the redshirt sophomore as he prepares for the upcoming Fall Camp quarterback battle.

In it, his father compared to Fink to the legendary horse Seabiscuit, an underdog who triumphed despite lack of pedigree.

More from Reign of Troy

That’s what Fink hopes to be in the coming competition, facing a thoroughbred built on a Mater Dei pedigree: JT Daniels.

Will Hernandez of Conquest Chronicles argued Fink’s chances of winning the job are better than they seem, thanks to experience and leadership.

So where does Fink stand with the first day of Fall Camp fast approaching on Friday?

As much hype as Daniels has garnered this offseason, the quarterback competition will begin with all three players at the same starting line. Daniels and Fink and fellow contender Jack Sears each have an equal shot at the moment, regardless of their talent or experience.

Fink and Sears may ultimately regret not taking the head start afforded them during Spring Camp, but the slate is wiped clean on them now as well. Whatever blemishes were present earlier this year won’t matter if they come to play in practice this August.

Let the race begin.

Top Pac-12 non-conference games

Athlon’s Kyle Kensing took a shot at ranking the top non-conference games in the Pac-12 this year with a pair of Trojan contest making the Top 4.

USC at Texas and USC vs. Notre Dame will draw plenty of eyeballs when they come around. The former being a proving ground for head coaches Clay Helton and Tom Herman. The latter remains one of the nation’s most intriguing rivalries.

Sam Darnold signs

It took longer than expected, but Sam Darnold finally reached a contract agreement with the New York Jets, as reported by NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.

Darnold held out for the first weekend of Jets’ preseason camp reportedly because of a dispute over language in his contract pertaining to guaranteed money. Those issues have been resolved and a $30.25 million contract is now locked in.

That’s some pay day.

CHECK OUT: Can Darnold escape the Mark Sanchez comparisons in NY?

USC is the Pac-12’s best bet

There are tons of questions USC has yet to answer in 2018, and plenty of reason to wonder whether the Trojans can repeat last year’s Pac-12 title success.

Still, USC is the safest bet when it coems to regular season win projections in 2018, per Pete Fiutak of College Football News.

Westgate Las Vegas Superbook gave the Trojans a win projection of 8.5, while CFN sees that number well higher at 10 wins.

Keep attention on betting odds. CFN also looked at the best bargains when it comes to College Football Playoff odds. USC got a nod as a “Value Pick” with 40/1 odds.

MORE: USC’s defense front and center at Media Day

Today’s Trojan Trivia

USC is 20-20-2 all-time against UCLA when their next game will be against Notre Dame. That .500 record will go one way or the other in 2018 as the Trojans will take on the Irish one week after the Crosstown Rivalry tilt.

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