Sam Darnold, USC Beat Bryce Love, Stanford in Back-and-Forth Pac-12 Championship

USC became the first South Division team to win the Pac-12 Championship Game by knocking off Stanford 31-28 on Friday night at Levi's Stadium.

The Trojans came out of the gate strong, taking a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter, and were able to keep Stanford's offense at bay long enough to secure the victory. The win marks USC's first conference title since 2008. 

As has been the case all year, USC used the tandem of Sam Darnold and Ronald Jones II for most of its offense. Darnold threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, and Jones had one of his best games of the season with 140 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. 

It was the defense that came through in the biggest moment of the game when Stanford running back Cameron Scarlett was stopped on 4th-and-goal from USC's 1-yard line to preserve a 24-21 lead with eight minutes remaining. 

Darnold led the decisive scoring drive for USC on the ensuing possession, connecting with Michael Pittman Jr. for a total of 66 yards on back-to-back plays. Jones finished it with an eight-yard touchdown run, capping off his historic night in grand fashion: 

Facing a 10-point deficit, Stanford's offense did wake up, going 90 yards in eight plays with Kaden Smith's 28-yard score helping cut the lead to 31-28 with 2:09 left to play. 

USC got the ball after Stanford's onside-kick attempt went out of bounds, and Darnold hit Josh Falo for 15 yards on 4th-and-2 to end the game. 

After both teams exchanged punts on their opening drives, the offenses kicked into gear with scoring drives on five of the final seven possessions before halftime. 

Darnold, who threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-24 win over Stanford on Sept. 9, had no problems navigating against the Cardinal defense the second time around. 

Per ESPN, with two wins over Stanford, USC has accomplished something that hasn't been done in 104 years:

Darnold nearly led the Trojans to as many points in the first half (17) as Stanford's defense allows in an average game this season (20.7). One reason for that success was because he was able to play mostly from a clean pocket:

Darnold received a lot of help from Jones as well. The junior star finished with a cumulative total of 256 yards and four touchdowns on 53 carries in two games against Stanford this season. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Jones kept his streak of 100-yard games going:

Johan Tuls of NDT Scouting also likes Jones' skills as it pertains to the NFL:

B/R NFL draft expert Matt Miller has Jones ranked as the No. 3 draft-eligible running back and No. 18 player overall in the 2018 class on his most recent big board. 

It's possible this was the final Pac-12 game for Darnold and Jones, so they ended their conference careers at USC on a high note. 

USC's defense was holding strong against Stanford running back Bryce Love, who had 59 yards on his first 15 carries. 

The Heisman contender finally broke through the Trojans' first line of defense on a 52-yard scamper in the third quarter that set up a K.J. Costello touchdown pass to Smith that helped cut the deficit to 24-21. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Love's longest run of the game was also one for the history books:

Love ended the Pac-12 title game with 125 yards on 22 carries, marking the 11th time he's cracked the 100-yard mark in 12 games played. 

NFL Draft Scout's Dane Brugler expanded on Love's big plays this season to further illustrate how impressive he has been:

Love's ailing ankle, which caused him to miss the Oct. 26 game against Oregon State, flared up again in the fourth quarter after he was tackled following a seven-yard gain. The junior star limped off the field to get his leg taped up before returning two plays later. 

Dr. Saturday of Yahoo Sports pondered a hypothetical about Love's ankles:

Considering Love has 1,973 yards this season after his performance on Friday, he may not need two ankles to succeed. 

This game was also an excellent feather in the cap for USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin, whose name keeps getting mentioned for the vacant head coaching job at Tennessee. He devised the game plan that put up 501 yards Friday against a strong Stanford defense. 

Martin has done his best to keep focus on his job with the Trojans, not wanting to discuss anything else leading up to the Pac-12 Championship Game. 

"I just don’t talk about other jobs during the season," he told reporters Monday. 

Whatever the future holds for Martin, he's making a good name for himself as a college coach in just his second year as an offensive coordinator. 

For now, Martin and the rest of USC will be able to celebrate winning the Pac-12 for the first time since the conference expanded in 2011. The Trojans will head into their bowl game riding a five-game winning streak after a 49-14 loss against Notre Dame. 

Even though USC will likely fall short of its ultimate goal of making the College Football Playoff, this season was another step in the right direction for the program under head coach Clay Helton.