UNIVERSITY PARK — The sometimes rocky roads that the USC Trojans and Penn State Nittany Lions football teams traveled in 2016 were surprisingly similar.
It’s also surprising, given how the two teams stood after Week 4, that those roads will ultimately end at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Monday, Jan. 2.
Back in late September, the Trojans were 1-3 and coming off a loss at No. 24 Utah, 31-27, that dropped them to 0-2 in the Pac-12 Conference. The other two losses, a 52-6 drubbing by Alabama and a 27-10 defeat at Stanford, were sandwiched around a 45-7 win against Utah State.
Sure, all three losses came against Top 25 teams, but this was USC. There was talent up and down the roster, and everyone was aware that something was just not happening.
Enter quarterback Sam Darnold.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound freshman was playing in a backup role to starter Max Browne and actually saw significant time in the loss to Utah.
He was good enough in that game to get a shot at starting the next week against Arizona State.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
USC swamped Arizona State 41-20 for its second win, and Darnold led the way with 23 completions for 352 yards and three touchdowns.
Highly regarded Colorado was next, and Darnold was outstanding again. He completed 25 of 37 passes for 358 yards and all three USC touchdowns in the Trojans’ tough 21-7 win.
After that, it was victories against Cal, 45-24, and a down Oregon, 45-20, before the big showdown at No. 4 Washington on Nov. 12.
USC and Darnold were more than up to that challenge. Darnold threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans upended the high-flying Huskies 26-13.
Ronald Jones ran for 93 yards and a touchdown while receivers Darreus Rogers and Daniel Imatorbhebhe each caught scoring passes from Darnold.
Afterward, USC head coach Clay Helton said that Darnold’s performance was “unbelievable.”
It was Washington’s only loss of the season, and the Huskies went on to qualify for the playoff and will meet No. 1 Alabama in the semifinals.
USC broke into the Top 25 after the win, and kept moving up after its final two wins over arch-rivals UCLA, 36-14, and Notre Dame, 45-27.
The Trojans finished the season at No. 9, on an eight-game winning streak, and as the Pac-12’s representative in the Rose Bowl.
The same weekend that USC lost at Utah, Penn State was having its own troubles.
The Nittany Lions, battling the injury bug at linebacker and along the offensive line, absorbed a 49-10 loss at Michigan in their Big Ten opener.
The Lions previously lost to Pitt, 42-39, after a big second-half comeback fell just short. Wins over Kent State and Temple were already in the books, but the beating against the Wolverines stung badly. Penn State was 2-2 and waiting for something to happen that would turn their season around.
That “something” occurred in the next game against Minnesota. You can take your pick as to which big play in that 29-26 overtime win turned the Lions’ season around — Irvin Charles’ 80-yard touchdown catch, Trace McSorly’s go-ahead run, Tyler Davis’ last-second field goal to tie it, or Saquon Barkley’s 25-yard run in overtime.
It probably doesn’t matter because they all happened and they all were crucial in the victory.
From there, Penn State ran the table, including wins over No. 2 Ohio State, 24-21, Iowa, 41-14, Michigan State, 45-12, and finally Wisconsin, 38-31, in the Big Ten Championship.
In all, the Lions won nine straight games, and in all of them, they used the same formula — big play offense, solid defense and a knack for turning it on in the second half.
Ultimately, Penn State finished at No. 5 and just missed the playoff party that will go on with Alabama, Washington, Clemson and Ohio State.
But given where they were on Sept. 24, head coach James Franklin and his players seem genuinely happy to soothe their disappointment with a trip to southern California.
When USC beat Washington, there was talk that if the teams would play again, USC would be a solid favorite. And Washington is in the playoffs now, so Penn State will have its hands full with the Trojans in the Rose Bowl.
It starts with Darnold. He is big, but he can use his feet to avoid rushers and find time for his receivers to get open. He has an accurate arm, a great touch, and completed almost 70 percent of his passes.
Jones finished the season with 1,027 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, but senior Justin Davis also had a good year with 564 yards on 104 carries.
Besides Rogers and Imatorbhebhe, the top receivers are JuJu Smith-Schuster (781 yards and projected to be a high draft pick), Deontay Burnett (458) and Steven Mitchell (226).
Also, Andoree’ Jackson is considered one of the most dangerous return men in the country. He averages 16 yards on punt returns and 30 yards on kickoffs and has scored four return touchdowns.
Defensively, USC is very efficient and opposing teams averaged just 22 points per game. The Trojans allow just 133 yards rushing, but teams have passed for more than 225 yards per game and 20 touchdowns against them.
USC had 17 takeaways this season, including 11 interceptions, and recorded 25 sacks.
Besides Alabama, the only team to score more than 30 points against the Trojans was Utah with 31. No other team scored more than 27.
Penn State, of course, will be trying to keep doing what it has been doing.
Some things do break somewhat in the Lions’ favor going into this game. USC has not been an especially good second-half team, and in fact the fourth quarter has been the least productive one for the Trojans. But USC is a dynamo in the first half, especially in the second quarter, and Penn State cannot afford to start as slowly as it has been.
Also, the Trojans can hurt themselves with turnovers, and they were slowed in all three of their losses with interceptions and fumbles.
Still, Franklin called USC one of the hottest and most dangerous teams in the country, and he is probably right on both counts.
This will be the first time that either team has played in the Rose Bowl since these two teams met each other in 2009. USC won that game 38-24.
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 2.
