USC Trojans are back in the playoff race after latest rankings

If you’re the USC Trojans, it’s put up or shut up time now that they’re back in the top four.

Another crazy week in college football has elapsed, with Sam Darnold and the Trojans surviving the Stanford scare some thought they were in for. While the first half was decently close, the second half was mostly Trojans and they made quick work of their Pac-12 opponent.

Luckily for Darnold, his Heisman hopeful season is still intact, but their next game comes versus the Texas Longhorns and could change everything. All the Trojans have to do to fall victim to the Texas Longhorns is be caught off guard and not see it coming.

They’ve won both of their first two games by the same margin — 18 points — but had to find ways to pull away before the game stayed too close too late.

After a ten point loss to start the season at home at the hands of Maryland, Texas stormed back with a 56-0 romping of San Jose State in its latest contest.

Sam Darnold has only thrown 15 incomplete passes in the two games that he’s played this season, but expect Texas to be more of a physical challenge than Stanford or Western Michigan.

The move to number four in the AP Top 25 poll comes after a good performance on their end, but also due in part to the Ohio State Buckeyes losing at home to the Oklahoma Sooners over the weekend. Prior to the game, Oklahoma was ranked fifth and Ohio State was ranked second in the nation.

Joining Oklahoma and USC in the top four are first-placed Alabama and third-placed Clemson. The USC Trojans haven’t let us down yet, and if they keep winning can throw their hat in the ring for the college football playoff.

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One impressive thing worth noting is that according to the AP Top 25 Poll, they’ve jumped Penn State, who is now fifth behind the Trojans. Sam Darnold has a Hollywood season in his hands, and he knows it too well.