College Football 2017: Ranking the 3 worst losses of Week 8

When we’re talking about the worst losses of the week, there were none worse than USC’s 49-14 embarrassment in South Bend against Notre Dame. It was one of just two games featuring AP Top 25 teams this week, and the No. 13 Fighting Irish were a slight favorite at home on Saturday evening. So the fact that the Trojans lost on the road wasn’t surprising.

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What makes this the top defeat on our list of the worst losses of the week was the nature in which USC fell against Notre Dame. After holding the Irish to a three-and-out on the opening series, Sam Darnold was sacked and fumbled on the first offensive snap of the game for the Trojans. USC missed a 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter, Darnold threw an interception later in the period, and Notre Dame was up 28-0 by halftime.

By the fourth quarter, Clay Helton had pulled his struggling quarterback and benched him for the rest of the contest. Darnold finished 20-of-28 for 229 passing yards and two touchdowns, but he also had the two costly turnovers that Notre Dame turned into 14 points the other way. On a day when the Fighting Irish struggled to complete passes, they were able to turn to a ground game that churned out 377 rushing yards and five touchdowns against the Trojans defense.

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All in all, it was a flat performance by the preseason favorite in the Pac-12. USC didn’t hurt its chances of winning the conference, but they are going to have a much harder time convincing the College Football Playoff selection committee of their merits after the thorough beatdown in South Bend.