ERST LESEN! » at approach wont change as champs.Were tryin

LOS ANGELES -- Sam Darnold has a knack for turning potential disasters into something special.Southern Californias remarkable freshman quarterback does it all the time on broken plays. Instead of robotically falling on the ball when a snap goes awry or a handoff is misplaced, he often attempts to improvise a happy ending to a perilous situation.Not always, but sometimes its good to try to make a play, Darnold said. I like trying it sometimes.Speaking of potential disasters, Darnold has done a pretty great job saving USCs season as well.Darnold is the engine driving the No. 15 Trojans (7-3, 6-2 Pac-12) from their 1/3 start to a six-game winning streak heading into Saturday nights crosstown showdown with UCLA (4-6, 2-5).With a confident arm and that incredible elusiveness in the backfield, Darnold has completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 2,161 yards this season. He has 22 touchdown passes and six interceptions, and he does it all with a buccaneering playing style that reminds everybody football is supposed to be fun.More importantly, Darnold has won six straight starts since losing his first. The Trojans have roared back from their brutal September schedule into contention for a Pac-12 South title, taking the pressure off first-year permanent head coach Clay Helton in the process.Hes not a finished product by any means, but hes helping us win football games, said Helton, the Trojans former quarterbacks coach. When you have a kid with his instinct and creative ability, I dont think you handcuff him. I told him, `Drive it like you stole it. You (have to) play the game with no fear, and he does.Darnold and Helton say they dont waste time thinking about where USC might be if Darnold had been the Trojans starting quarterback from the season opener. Max Browne started the Trojans losses away from home to top-ranked Alabama and defending Pac-12 champion Stanford before Darnold seized the job.Darnolds confidence hit a new peak last weekend when he outperformed Washington star Jake Browning, passing for 287 yards and two scores in the Trojans 26-13 upset of the previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Huskies.Darnold slipped through Washingtons vaunted defense with his remarkable knack for scrambling and an ability to avoid trouble in the pocket. His unflappability might be the freshmans most pronounced asset.I like to credit my coaches in high school and Pop Warner, but I think it comes down to my family, and how Im raised, Darnold said. My parents did a good job keeping me confident and knowing that you just have to be cool with yourself. You cant control the past. You have to look ahead.Darnold grew up in Orange County watching Pete Carrolls dominant USC teams of the previous decade. He became enamored with the close-to-home schools swagger, and he eagerly committed to USC even with Cody Kessler, Browne and touted recruit Ricky Town blocking his path to playing time.Kessler kept the starting job for three years, and Browne served as his backup for the past two seasons. Darnold watched and practiced as a redshirt last year, dazzling his teammates and the coaches with his performances on the scout team.Darnold pushed Browne for the starting job in spring practice, which ended without Helton naming a starter. Helton clearly felt loyalty to Browne, the big-armed passer who stuck with the tumultuous USC program through multiple coaching changes.But after that 1-2 start, Helton couldnt ignore Darnold -- and now the rest of college football cant ignore the Trojans, who returned to the AP Top 25 this week.USC wont need any extra motivation for its final two regular-season games against rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. The Trojans would need help from a Colorado loss to reach the Pac-12 title game, but their fans are already looking forward to a full season with Darnold in charge in 2017.Weve got a lot of potential, Darnold said. We just want to keep pushing through this season and get the most out of it.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Miles Wood Devils Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Will Butcher Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-nico-hischier-devils-jersey/ . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Jesper Bratt Jersey . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Martin Brodeur Jersey . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season.VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Villanova slipped on the national championship rings, raised the national championship banner and hit the road on a victory circuit that had almost as many stops as a Wiz Khalifa summer tour.Khalifa even made a cameo appearance at Villanova as part of a championship celebration. The Wildcats shared laughs with President Barack Obama. Rollie Massimino danced at the title party.The Wildcats were feted with parades and presentations, first pitches and first pucks, and ordinary Big East players morphed into overnight college basketball sensations.Villanova has basked in the spotlight for seven months after beating North Carolina in one of the NCAA Tournaments all-time greatest games. Its now time for the Wildcats to try to defend -- defend? -- the championship.Nobody can take the ring off our fingers, 6-foot-5 swingman Josh Hart said. Were not defending nothing. Were a team that can make a deep run in March.Again the Big East favorites and ranked fourth in the AP preseason Top 25 , the Wildcats should be on the short list of teams to beat for a championship. They went 31 years between winning it all. Theyd like to shorten the next gap to one year.Led by Hart and title game star Kris Jenkins, the Wildcats are in prime position to become the first team to go back to back since Florida in 2006 and 2007.Just cutting down that net again would be great, Hart said.The Wildcats wouldnt have to search far to find a ladder. They kept the one they used in Houston to snip the nets after they beat the Tar Heels on Jenkins buzzer-beating 3-pointer.Hart, the Big Easts preseason player of the year, will begin his senior season on The Associated Press preseason All-America team . Hart averaged 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds last season for the Wildcats and considered turning pro.He wants two-time national champ stamped on his bio for next years NBA draft.A couple of people told me that when they were going through the draft process, they were like, `It was a storybook ending, and you can basically ride off into the sunset, Hart said. Riding off into the sunset in that way this year would be crazy.Coach Jay Wright, who is 354-157 with two Final Fours in 15 seasons at Villanova, said a national title has only boosted the Wildcats confidence.Thats not something they lose. That confidence is inside them, he said. That experience is inside them. Youre never going to take that away. Usually its harder to control your ego than it is to pump someebody up.ddddddddddddThe challenge is really our ego and staying humble and hungry and getting better.Get better?That could be scary for the rest of the Big East. The three-time defending conference champs have improved their record in the league (16-2 each of the last three years) and a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament is usually a mere formality.Here are some of the challenges ahead for the reigning national champs:FREE OMARIOmari Spellman, a 6-foot-8 highly recruited forward, was expected to become Villanovas big man in the frontcourt this season. The NCAA declared the freshman academically ineligible for this season because Spellman did not complete his initial eligibility requirements in time.That leaves more minutes for Darryl Reynolds and freshmen Tim Delaney and Dylan Painter.But Spellman would have carried a load left by Daniel Ochefus absence and made the Wildcats more potent inside. The Villanova fans chanted Free Omari! at their national championship celebration. Hell be free -- just not until next season.WONT YOU STAYSpellman was an expected stud and sophomore guard Jalen Brunson had one-and-done potential until he eased into his team-first role in the starting lineup.Wright has never had a one-and-done player leave for the NBA and the Wildcats have made tournament runs on the strength of four-year players like Ochefu, now with the Washington Wizards, and point guard Ryan Arcidiacono.Wright said that approach wont change as champs.Were trying to find kids that appreciate what Villanova is all about, he said. People say it must have helped you in recruiting. Were recruiting the same guys. Were trying to find the best guys for Villanova that can make it to the NBA, not the best guys for the NBA.WRIGHT WAYWright said he had nothing more than simple, casual conversations with NBA team executives about jobs open at the next level. Wright, who has dealt with job offer rumors for a decade, said he does not have NBA aspirations.I dont, he said. Would I like to coach in the NBA? Would I like the challenge? Yeah. But I dont want to give this up. Youve got to give this up to do it. I dont want to give it up. If I ended my career and I never got to coach in the NBA, Id be far more happier saying I got to coach at Villanova for a long time.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '