Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, left, scores past Southern California defensive back Adoree' Jackson during the second half of the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

I thought 2016 couldn’t be topped, but 2017 is off to a pretty good start

USC and Penn State gave us a Rose Bowl for the ages on Monday, and while it wasn’t for a championship, its place among great games and certainly great Rose Bowl’s can’t be denied.

It also put the rest of the country on notice, as both programs are projected to be preseason top 5 to start the 2017 season.

So let’s dig a little deeper into some of the subplots of an all-time classic.

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No, this shouldn’t have been

a national semifinal

Let’s just appreciate this game for what it was rather than what it could have been. Are both teams currently two of the four best in the country? I think so, and I think most of the country thought the same thing afterwards.

The problem here is you run into an age old argument. Do you take the most deserving or do you take the best? By the second criteria listed, both teams should have qualified, but you can’t discount the first.

The committee is willing to overlook a tough loss (Washington losing 26-13 at home to those same Trojans, for example). What they aren’t willing to look past is getting embarrassed, and make no mistake, that happened to both of these programs at the beginning of the season.

USC started the season 1-3, including a 52-6 drubbing at the hands of Alabama. Penn State began the season 2-2, which also included a 49-10 whitewashing at Michigan.

Were those two matchups to happen again, they would be completely different games. But you can’t discount them, despite both teams playing at the level they are now.

Redemption

Both programs were left for dead not long ago with major sanctions.

Penn State, of course, with the heinous Jerry Sandusky scandal and USC with the massive impermissible benefits for football star Reggie Bush and basketball standout O.J. Mayo.

Among the most significant of the sanctions were a major loss in scholarships for both teams, with USC’s being levied in 2010 and Penn State’s in 2012.

If you listened to most national pundits at the time, it would be a decade-plus, if ever that both programs would recover.

No one could have dreamed that on Jan. 2, 2017, they would again be talked about with the very best in college football.

But that’s exactly where they are right now. Two traditional powers back on the national map in a big way.

Stars are born

NFL scouts are currently drooling about the prospects of USC quarterback Sam Darnold and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. They will have to wait at least another season, however, when both become draft eligible.

Darnold set a Rose Bowl record with five touchdown passes and Barkley’s 194 yards on the ground, including an electrifying 79-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, broke a Penn State bowl record for most yards in a game previously held by Blair Thomas.

That run was part of a sequence that saw Penn State score touchdowns on three consecutive plays in the third quarter and an overall collective effort in which they scored touchdowns on seven straight possessions. Pretty remarkable considering they started the game with a muffed kickoff and two interceptions.

Despite all the fireworks, the Nittany Lions couldn’t finish the deal thanks to the heroics of Darnold. It’s not hyperbole to think that he is now the frontrunner for No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. He has that kind of skill set, as evidenced by his laser into double coverage to Deontay Burnett from 27-yards out with 1:20 to tie the game.

Two players who are draft eligible – receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster of USC and Penn State’s Chris Godwin, put on a show, with Godwin breaking his own Penn State bowl game record for receptions with nine along with 187 yards.

They, along with USC’s Adoree Jackson could be stars in college for another year. Or we could see them on Sunday’s in September.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Nittany Lion quarterback Trace McSorley as well. Yes, he threw the key interception late that set up the game-winning field goal, and he had the two early miscues. In between, however, he was terrific for three quarters. Perhaps even more so than Barkley, he is the biggest reason, along with first-year offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, that the PSU offense took such a huge leap forward.

Final thoughts

No matter if you were a fan of Penn State or USC or just an avid football fan, it doesn’t take much to appreciate the 4 1/2 hours of greatness we all saw.

Not only did both teams give us a game that undoubtedly ranks as an all-timer, they also set the bar very high for themselves for next season with so many key players coming back. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think they could meet again a year from now, only with a national championship on the line.