Fansided

5 reasons Washington can still make the College Football Playoff

By Nathaniel Reeves

Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen walks on the sidelines during the third quarter against the USC Trojans at Husky Stadium. USC defeated Washington, 26-13. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen walks on the sidelines during the third quarter against the USC Trojans at Husky Stadium. USC defeated Washington, 26-13. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold (14) passes against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold (14) passes against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

4. USC is far from a bad loss

Four of the five top 10 teams to lose on Saturday went down against opponents outside of the committee’s top 25. Washington was the lone exception, as the Trojans entered the week ranked 20th and figure to rise much higher on Tuesday.

Just two months ago, USC looked absolutely lifeless under head coach Clay Helton, who surprisingly had his interim tag removed near the end of last season. The Trojans were smashed by Alabama before losing 27-10 to a Stanford team that turned out to be not very good as part of a 1-3 start.

However, the Trojans have played much better since giving the starting quarterback job to Sam Darnold. The freshman has thrown for 2,161 yards and 22 touchdowns to six interceptions while leading USC to a 6-1 record, including wins over No. 12 Colorado and No. 4 Washington.

Darnold was terrific again against the Huskies, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes for 287 yards against the excellent Washington defense. USC might have the most raw talent of any team in the nation outside of Alabama, and it showed all over the field on Saturday against the overmatched Huskies.

The Trojans moved all the way up to No. 15 in the AP Poll after being previously unranked, and figure to be slotted even higher by the committee. Given that USC has very winnable games against UCLA and Notre Dame to close out the year, it could easily be in the top 10 soon.

A loss to a highly-ranked USC team is going to look a lot better than Clemson’s defeat against Pittsburgh or Michigan’s blemish against Iowa. Should Washington win out and claim the Pac-12, it would be tough for the committee to exclude the Huskies.

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