USC Trojans

Before Sam Darnold made Rose Bowl magic, he was star at San Clemente

Published Jan. 3, 2017 4:44 p.m. ET

Fox Sports

Sam Darnold was simply masterful.

The redshirt freshman quarterback led USC to a thrilling 52-49 Rose Bowl win over Penn State on Monday after passing for 453 yards and five touchdowns. Several of his throws were spectacular, put over the top of the Nittany Lions' coverage and right into the hands of the awaiting Trojans' receivers.

Before Darnold was the savoir of the USC season, inserted into the starting lineup four games into the 2016 season, he was a high school star at San Clemente, where he threw a school record 5 TDs in a game ... twice.

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/816274958338953216

When his senior season was completed, Darnold racked up nearly 3,000 passing yards, 39 TDs plus almost 800 rushing yards and 13 scores on the ground.

Check out our 'Year of the Quarterback' profile on Darnold from our 2014 CIF-SS football coverage.

Needless to say, Darnold is really good at football and will be the Heisman favorite heading into the 2017 season.