Texas brings surging offense to face USC

Tom Herman arrived at Texas with much fanfare.

Herman, the former Houston coach and Ohio State offensive coordinator, replaced Charlie Strong last November following three consecutive seasons in which the Longhorns finished below .500.

The early returns?

Texas, which visits USC at the Coliseum on Saturday, split its first two home games but has shown little trouble on offense.

“I think Tom is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in college football,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “He’s done it at Ohio State, he’s done at Houston, he’s going to do it at Texas.”

The Longhorns have averaged 48 points per game through the first two weeks, ranking 12th in the FBS, and averaged 548 yards per game, 15th in the FBS, despite instability at quarterback.

Freshman Sam Ehlinger started in last Saturday’s win over San Jose State, while sophomore Shane Buechele, who started in the season opener, was out with a sore shoulder. Herman has not revealed which passer will be behind center against the Trojans. Buechele, who also started last season, is not guaranteed to start even if healthy, Herman said.

Herman’s reputation as a play-caller took off in 2014 when he helped Ohio State win the first College Football Playoff with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones starting the final three games. Herman, then the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator, took over at Houston after the season.

While at Houston, the Cougars ranked 41th in the FBS in total offense in 2016 and 20th in 2015. They were 22-4 overall under his watch.

Helton said Herman provides a “tremendous amount of trouble” because of his teams’ running game and run-pass options used by quarterbacks.

Texas rushed for 406 yards against San Jose State after it was held to 98 yards in week one against Maryland.

“You could see they brought a physical mentality to the game,” Helton said.

Another reason the Trojans might want to keep an eye on their unranked foe.

Last season, Herman guided Houston to a pair of high-profile upsets, defeating third-ranked Oklahoma in the season opener and fifth-ranked Louisville in late November.

Sharp Darnold

Sam Darnold, the Trojans’ quarterback, was named the Pac-12’s offensive player of the week after he completed 21 of 26 passes for 316 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions against Stanford.

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Darnold’s completion percentage, of 81 percent, was a career best.

“You could tell he had his jaw set right,” Helton said. “He was coming in there to win that game, and he had a mental focus that was truly special.”

Since a loss at Utah in his first career start, Darnold has directed USC to wins over four ranked teams during its current 11-game winning streak.

Revisionist history

When USC plays host to Texas on Saturday, it will be for the first time since the programs met in the 2006 Rose Bowl epic, the Longhorns prevailing on a winning touchdown run by Vince Young in the final seconds.

The Trojans are not fond of remembering it.

The USC sports information department’s weekly game notes released late Sunday read, “USC is 4-0 in its series with Texas (not including 1 loss vacated due to NCAA penalty; original record, 4-1).”

That would be the 2006 Rose Bowl.

As part of NCAA sanctions levied in 2010 due to improper benefits to Reggie Bush, the Trojans were forced to vacate 14 victories from December 2004 through the 2005 season.

“The penalty was to vacate wins when student-athletes competed while ineligible,” an NCAA spokeswoman wrote in an email Monday.

The NCAA did not mandate the loss to Texas vacated.

The Bowl Championship Series, though, in 2011 said USC must vacate its participation in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Quick hits

USC’s road opener at Cal on Sept. 23 will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, it was announced Monday. The Trojans visit Washington State on a Friday night six days later. ... Helton said USC was a “little handsy” against Stanford. The Trojans were penalized eight times for 90 yards.