College Football Playoff: Projected top 4 after Week 2

4. USC Trojans

The USC Trojans are a newcomer in this week’s College Football Playoff projections. After getting their first win in Pac-12 play over the Stanford Cardinal in convincing fashion, it’s hard not to put them in this year’s field, for now anyways.

Quarterback Sam Darnold completed his first 11 passes before throwing an interception and his first incompletion of the game. He finished 21-of-26 with 316 passing yards and four passing touchdowns.

The performance of wide receivers Deontay Burnett and Steven Mitchell overshadowed Darnold’s two interceptions.

Burnett caught nine passes for 121 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns to take over the game. Mitchell caught four balls for 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

The running game was even more spectacular as Ronald Jones II and Stephen Carr ran for a combined total of 235 rushing yards. Carr averaged 10.8 rushing yards per carry while Jones II scored two rushing touchdowns. Each running back was able to showcase their abilities, making for one of the toughest running back tandems in the nation.

Darnold has the weapons on offense to win the Pac-12, he’ll just need to limit the turnovers. He’s got four touchdowns and four interceptions through two games so far.