Sam Darnold ties up Rose Bowl with dime touchdown pass (Video)

The USC Trojans tied up the 2017 Rose Bowl thanks to a gorgeous drive and a dime of a touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Sam Darnold

Of all of the college football bowl games this season, the 2017 Rose Bowl may have been an example of saving the best for (near) last. The USC Trojans jumped out to a big lead early, but the Penn State Nittany Lions stormed out of halftime with a monster 28-point third quarter. All of this led to the Trojans with the ball with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter trailing by a touchdown. Cue Sam Darnold’s music.

The 2016 season turned around for USC whenever they put Darnold, a redshirt freshman, under center. He was a revelation in the regular season, but everyone wanted to know how he’d perform on the big stage of the Rose Bowl. He already had four touchdown passes, but his fifth was his most important—and maybe his most impressive.

After putting together a solid drive—aided by a pair of pass interference penalties on Penn State—Darnold and the Trojans were in Nittany Lions territory. That’s when the freshman dropped back and starting looking down the middle of the field. Standing tall as long as he could, Darnold delivered an strike to the middle of the field for Deontay Burnett. The wideout hauled in the dime from his quarterback to notch the game-tying touchdown:

That’s absolute perfection from Darnold. His presence in the pocket combined with the throw show why many people have him circled as a 2017 Heisman Trophy candidate and a potential top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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After the made extra point, the USC defense came up big with an interception on Penn State’s ensuing possession. That allowed them to get the ball back with little time remaining and kick the Rose Bowl winning field goal as time expired.