College Football Rankings 2017: Projected AP Top 25 after Week 1
By Zach Bigalke
The Trojans sweated out their home opener against defending MAC and Group of Five champion Western Michigan. Last year’s Cotton Bowl participants came to Los Angeles and gave USC a fight well into the fourth quarter. The 18-point margin of victory belies just how tough this contest was for Clay Helton‘s crew.
Heisman hopeful and 2018 NFL Draft favorite Sam Darnold threw two interceptions and zero touchdown passes. He did run for a touchdown, but it was an otherwise unimpressive outing from the redshirt sophomore. Instead, running back Ronald Jones II stepped up with 159 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Even then, Western Michigan led for long stretches at the Coliseum before USC pulled away for the win. There is plenty that the Trojans need to work on ahead of next week’s visit by top-15 Stanford. Darnold needs to progress rather than regress, and the defense has a lot of areas where they must improve, especially in the front seven.