Why Ronald Jones, not Sam Darnold, is USC’s most important player
While the USC Trojans have the pieces to remain a College Football Playoff contender, they need to rely more on star running back Ronald Jones.
Martin Stadium was home to one of the most memorable games of the young college football season on Friday night, as the No. 16 Washington State Cougars took down the No. 5 USC Trojans in a late-night 30-27 thriller.
Washington State, a team known for its high-powered Air Raid and porous defense under Mike Leach, impressively held Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold to a career-low 164 yards to key the upset. The victory establishes the Cougars as a College Football Playoff contender, while USC now needs to run the table while getting some help elsewhere to have a shot at the national title.
Given the way the two teams have performed all season long, Friday’s result isn’t that much of a surprise. USC struggled against teams like Western Michigan, Texas and California that it should have overwhelmed, while the well-rounded Cougars have been flying high since a wild comeback victory over Boise State on Sep. 9.
That leaves the big question of how a USC team that won nine games in a row to close out the 2016 season, including victories over elite squads like Penn State and Washington, has fallen apart so badly in September. USC has one of the most crowded injury lists in the nation, preseason Heisman favorite Sam Darnold has regressed in a major way, and an offensive line that was considered the weak point of the team entering the year has been even shakier than expected.
Despite all of those serious flaws, the Trojans have the talent to make another late-season run to at least reach a New Year’s Six bowl, if not more. Rather than Darnold, the key to winning out over the rest of the season will be running back Ronald Jones.
Ranked at the top running back in the class of 2015 out of McKinney High School in Texas, Jones has emerged as a star in his two-plus years with the Trojans. After falling just short of a 1,000-yard season as a true freshman, Jones carried the ball 177 times for 1,082 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2016 to help the USC offense become one of the best units in the nation down the stretch.
Despite those gaudy numbers, Jones has been largely overlooked since the start of the 2016 season. Darnold will continue to generate the most hype as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, while other skill position players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Deontay Burnett have overshadowed Jones.
This USC team just doesn’t have the same passing attack as its 2016 predecessor, and the talented junior needs to be the focal point of the USC offense moving forward. As a former high school track star, Jones has the speed to break a big play on any carry, as shown by his 86-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter on Friday to give the Trojans a 14-10 lead.
The Trojans got far too pass-happy over the rest of the game, and Jones finished with just 14 carries for 114 yards, an efficient average of 9.1 yards per rush. That falls on head coach Clay Helton and offensive coordinator Tee Martin, who need to ensure Jones gets 20 plus carries in upcoming games against Utah and Notre Dame.
Jones can help take the pressure off of Darnold, who is underperforming for a multitude of reasons after looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the country as a redshirt freshman. Darnold is still an accurate passer with a healthy 8.4 yards per attempt but has been inexplicably mistake-prone with seven interceptions and a crucial fumble that sealed Friday’s game with under a minute remaining.
Poor offensive line play hasn’t helped, as a unit that lost three players to the NFL has allowed nine sacks already after giving up 14 last season. The Trojans were down three offensive linemen against the Cougars including left tackle Toa Lobendahn, and shaky pass protection can lead to mistakes from any quarterback no matter how talented they are.
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Receivers Steven Mitchell and Jalen Green were also out alongside tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe, leaving Darnold with Burnett and a bunch of freshmen to work with. Jones can help in that regard as a capable receiver out of the backfield, and he already has a 56-yard touchdown catch against Texas on his 2017 resume.
USC is going to have a lot of trouble on Oct. 14 if Jones is underutilized again, as the Utah defensive line is going to be a handful. The same could be said about a hypothetical Pac-12 Championship Game against Washington or a rematch with Hercules Mata’afa and the Cougars.
There’s no shame in losing a night game at Martin Stadium to a good Washington State team, and a flawed yet ultra-talented USC team should not be counted out of the playoff race just yet. If the Trojans are to win the Pac-12, Martin needs to change the focal point of the offense and start using one of the country’s best running backs.