Coming out of San Clemente High School in Southern California as a four-star recruit, Darnold had an impressive two-year stint with the USC Trojans. In 2016, Darnold was the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, and he was named to the Freshman All-American Team. He guided the Trojans to the Pac-12 Conference Championship in 2017, and was named the MVP of the conference championship game.
On January 2, 2017, in one of the most memorable Rose Bowls, Darnold and the Trojans squared off against Saquon Barkley and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Ninth-ranked USC defeated fifth-ranked Penn State 52-49 before a crowd of nearly 96,000. SBNation summarized the remarkable game and Darnold’s amazing performance:
