Sports Illustrated views USC's Matt Leinart as college football giant

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Matt Leinart isn't the greatest quarterback USC football has ever produced. Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl. Carson Palmer was a top-tier NFL quarterback for more than a decade. Caleb Williams was a No. 1 NFL draft pick and is now living up to his enormous potential. Matt Leinart did not have a successful NFL career. Yet, none of those other USC quarterbacks can say they won 34 straight games and two national championships. Heck, none of them even won one. Matt Leinart is easily the USC quarterback who did more with his college career than all the others. Sports Illustrated named Leinart one of the top 35 college football players of all time.

"The Heisman Trophy in 2004. A Heisman Trophy ceremony invite as a finalist the year after. Back-to-back AP national championships and a 37–2 record in three years as a starter. Leinart’s legendary accomplishments and iconic plays, such as the ridiculous 61-yarder to Dwayne Jarrett on fourth-and-9 from the USC 26-yard line with under two minutes left vs. Notre Dame in 2005, are etched in stone in Los Angeles. USC football has a proud history, and it simply can’t be written without Leinart, who returned the program to the glory days during his years on campus while cementing himself as one of college football’s greatest QBs ever," SI wrote.

Matt Leinart was part of a juggernaut USC offense in 2004 and 2005, but what can get overlooked about him is that he was also a mature and responsible leader. He didn't make the big mistakes other college quarterbacks made. He didn't cost USC games. He made tons of big plays, but he also avoided bad ones. That's part of why he's a legitimate USC and college football legend.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Sports Illustrated views USC's Matt Leinart as college football giant

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