Top 5 Passing Performances of the 2016-2017 Bowl Season

The best passing performance of the 2016-2017 bowl season took place on the oldest stage of the postseason by a player who wasn’t even his team’s starter to open the year. In a New Year’s Six showdown against Big Ten champion Penn State, Sam Darnold played with a poise belying his status as a redshirt freshman. His 453 passing yards were three yards shy of tying the Rose Bowl record, while he broke the touchdown mark with five passing scores. In the process, Darnold led USC to a comeback 52-49 victory in their first Rose Bowl appearance since 2008.

By no means was Darnold perfect in Pasadena, as he threw an interception early in the third quarter that helped the Nittany Lions open up a 15-point lead. But he rebounded from the mistake, throwing two touchdowns after the pick as well as a two-point conversion. Few of his throws were better than the strike that tied the game at 49 with less than two minutes remaining:

It proved to be his final throw of the game, as USC got the ball back with 27 seconds remaining and drained the clock to set up a 46-yard field goal to win the game. Darnold won the Rose Bowl MVP in his first season as a starter, and with at least one more year of eligibility he will be among the quarterbacks to watch next season. Thanks to his passing heroics, the Trojans are likely going to open 2017 as a top-five team in the polls.