96goblue00

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:45 PM ^

There is always the risk of injury, I guess, but barring that and a good year, he will likely be the top QB come next year's draft. He has a pretty strong build so I think he'll be ok, injury wise.

Sckon

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^

USC could very well be a national championship contender next year. That team is loaded and has one more year before sanctions will really be felt.

MgoblueAF

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^

I have to give him credit here. I don't know exactly what his reasons for staying are, but he has gone through hell to finish out his career/education at the place he always dreamed of playing.

JT4104

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:23 PM ^

A chance at a national title and an actual BCS bowl for him. Considering he stuck with them after the sanctions came down..i think it would be nice for him to get to a BCS bowl game. By all accounts he seems like a real stand up kid and hasn't complained one bit about not being able to go to a bowl game these last 2 yrs.

However, in a perfect world he would go to the BCS and usc would not.

PurpleStuff

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^

SC returns 4 starters on the offensive line, the best wide receiver tandem in the country, a thousand yard rusher who averaged just shy of 7 ypc (and who like Fitz only emerged late in the year), and 8 starters on defense.

And that is after two guys decided to go pro early.

The sanctions are going to be brutal 3-5 years from now, but the limited scholarships aren't going to be any problem for the team Barkley's coming back to play on.

WolvinLA2

December 22nd, 2011 at 5:28 PM ^

This is exactly right.  SC is going to be GOOD next year, like national championship good.  I don't know who on their schedule will be able to hang.  2013 might hurt for SC considering thye'll lose all the guys who will be seniors plus a handful of top juniors like Robert Woods, but 2012 will be big for them. 

As much as I hate SC, I almost hope they go undefeated because I don't want to see them in the Rose Bowl.

KAYSHIN15

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:27 PM ^

He's a more talented, less vocal Tim Tebow. Love the kid. You heard it here first...UM vs USC in the BCS Championship next year. Of course the good guys win...

JimLahey

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

This kid is a stud. Look at his numbers, he has more than lived up to the hype. I think he's closer to Andrew Luck as a prospect than most people give him credit for.

turtleboy

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

Glad he's staying, good to see more and more kids doing that lately. Seems like it's only the qbs waiting to get drafted, though. Kiper kept going on and on about how Barkleys top receiver and LT are getting drafted early on TV. Better to develop a little more in college than to have some crappy team make a tackling dummy out of you like St. Louis did with Bradford I say.

MichiganMan2424

December 22nd, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^

I'm not a fan of USC at all, but I have immense respect for Barkley. Great player, and seems like a great kid. Went to the school he always dreamed of going to, and stayed there through its darkest hour. Stayed positive, did everything the right way, and was a great player. Now he's staying to finish off his degree and reap his benefits. Good for him.

ThadMattasagoblin

December 22nd, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^

If I was a college qb i'd stay in college instead of bolting for the NFL.  Cfb is just better than the NFL.  Would I want to play in front of a half empty NFL stadium or a packed College stadium?

ThadMattasagoblin

December 22nd, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^

If I was a college qb i'd stay in college instead of bolting for the NFL.  Cfb is just better than the NFL.  Would I want to play in front of a half empty NFL stadium or a packed College stadium?

Swazi

December 22nd, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^

Kind've surprising, but I can certainly see where he's coming from, not being able to go to bowl games 2/3 years.  Him coming back gives USC a legit shot at the Rose Bowl next year.

PurpleStuff

December 22nd, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^

We've won 2 of our last 9 games against current Pac 12 opponents, with losses coming to a 6-6 UCLA team, an 8-4 Washington team, an 8-5 Oregon team, and good teams from Utah, Oregon, and USC (twice).

The only wins came against a 5-6 Utah team that we pummeled 10-7 and against a 7-6 Washington team that we needed a ridiculously dumb penalty and a last second field goal to beat.

Not to mention things like Bo's Rose Bowl record.

I'd much rather play in the SEC if it came down to switching leagues.

WolvinLA2

December 22nd, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^

Although I agree with your gripe of his post, I don't agree with why.  Sure, we're 2-7 in our last 9, but 4 of those losses were very legit, two very good USC games in Rose Bowls, Oregon with Dennis Dixon and a Utah team that went undefeated and beat Alabama.  The others were against still solid teams, played on the West Coast.  In fact, aren't we 2-2 in those games at home?  That makes it different. 

Also, that poster was probably referring to how crappy the bottom half of the Pac-12 is, and he's right.  Washington St, Oregon St. (now), ASU, Arizona, Colorado, UCLA and kind of Utah and Cal.  There are only 4 decent teams in the Pac-12 right now.  Not that the Big Ten is a murderer's row, but if we played a Pac-12 schedule instead, we'd do at least as good but probably better.

NateVolk

December 22nd, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^

How about some props to what Lane Kiffin has going with that program? A guy in Barkley's position isn't going to look back if he doesn't think the coaching is satisfactory and his game would grow.

To everyone that assumes that the program will slide during the scholarship reduction years,  Kiffin and company have it covered. USC has been loading numbers and depth. Each position has been meticulously planned and considered as far as scholarship allotment.  Kiffin and Haden sat down and decided to forego the scholarship reductions until the back end of the probation years. It was brilliant because they knew that guys would take off right away the first year and the numbers would be way down anyways. So you have all these open spots: time now to get young with full scholarship allotments for a couple years.  

They always get elite talent.  Now they are loaded, young and deep. They'll fill in the pieces during the reduction years and they just have to avoid whiffing on guys. No question it puts immense pressure on the staff to not take on any busts.  You'll see depth suffer maybe in about 2015, when these smaller classes mature. But that will be on the backside of likely top 10 teams 4 seasons in a row. The chain of yearly first round draft picks will not be broken.   They elected to stay very talented and not take a break.

Had they accepted the reductions immediately, they would be waiting until 2015 at the earliest to be young, talented and deep.  You can't have 5 years in the hole these days and count on emerging from it still viable. What they did and are doing is brilliant.

Think about it from a recruiting angle. The next few years, your scholarship offers have a massive value to recruits like never before. They aren't pursing just anybody with so few to give.  The recruits won't be walking into a program that is stripped but one that is free to compete for championships.