Once Matt Boermeester’s 46-yard field goal went through the uprights to clinch a Rose Bowl win over Penn State, the 2017 USC football team signed themselves up for extremely high expectations. A No. 3 finish in the AP poll certainly piled on.
But despite bringing back Heisman candidate Sam Darnold at quarterback and the explosive Ronald Jones at tailback, the Trojans have a lot to replace.
They lose 11 starters, including Thorpe Award winner Adoree’ Jackson, the fourth-most prolific receiver in USC history, JuJu Smith-Schuster and a pair of All-American offensive tackles.
That’s a tall task for anyone, even a team as loaded with blue-chip recruits as the Trojans.