OT: USC Quarterback race takes interesting turn. Aaron Corp out for 2 weeks
USC sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp has cracked a bone in his left leg, leaving the quarterback competition nearly wide open for true freshman Matt Barkley over the next two weeks. For those of you that do not know, Barkley enrolled early, like one Tate Forcier, and apparently performed quite well in the spring. Apparently, the only thing that was holding him back from passing Corp on the depth chart was interceptions that he'd thrown in team drills. Now, Barkley may get his chance to take hold of the USC starting spot.
USC plays at Ohio State on September 12th.
MGoBlog west coast correspondent WolvinLA, your thoughts?
http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-usc-football-fyi13-2009…
August 12th, 2009 at 10:00 PM ^
Barkley is the real deal. With the weapons he has at his disposal on offense he could make a Henne-like splash in his Freshman year.
That said, unless Corp comes back extremely rusty from the time off, he should be the starter. His grasp of the offense seems light years ahead of Barkley's from the reports I've read.
Oh and don't forget about Mustain.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:05 PM ^
As far as I understand, Mustain should be forgotten. I've heard that this is a two horse race that, yes, Corp is probably going to win. But about a month or so ago I asked some of the MGoBloggers on the west coast if Barkley really had a shot at starting and, to my surprise, they said absolutely. And that was, obviously, before Corp's injury. I still think Corp will get the nod, but this will really make things interesting leading up to the opener.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:31 PM ^
Yeah Barkley has a real shot and always has. Carroll has always stayed true to the mantra of "always competing." If Barkley is the better quarterback on Sept 5 Carroll will have no problem starting him.
The boards over at WeAreSC have had a field day with speculation after Corps injury was revealed. The insiders though seem to all be unanimous that when Corp comes back he will still be the guy. It would be interesting to see a true freshman at the helm for SC in the Shoe though.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:31 AM ^
Pa-dum-pa. How many points do I lose for this one?
August 12th, 2009 at 10:01 PM ^
I've been rooting for Mitch Mustain to fail ever since he cried his way out of Arkansas. I wonder how he feels about the Razorbacks' offensive scheme now...
August 13th, 2009 at 12:52 AM ^
Mustain has secured himself in the 3rd spot pretty well. The rest of the team doesn't really look to him as much of a leader, there were rumblings coming out of their spring practices about him not working as hard as the other players and then he became borderline eligible academically at usc. So he has plenty to sort out, with all of that against him a transfer would seem to be a logical event but thus far he doesn't really seem willing to do it again.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:57 AM ^
I really can't see petey the poodle feeding Barkley to the wolves at OSU, I think he will start before the end of the season but unless Corp throws up 6 ints in their opener he will be in good position even with the 2 weeks off. Right now it appears that the thing Barkley can't make up for to get the starting position is his inexperience which is funny since corp has never started a game either but that seems to be the common denominator.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:09 AM ^
...is that Mustain will probably have to transfer to a smaller school if he wants to see any playing time. Unless he has improved a ton over when he was at Arkansas, I just can't see USC winning more than eight games with Mustain as their starting QB. And that is not acceptable there right now.
Hey! I hear Appy State needs a QB.....
August 13th, 2009 at 8:50 AM ^
Out of curiousity, does anyone know when was the last time USC started a true freshman QB?
August 13th, 2009 at 2:46 PM ^
Carson Palmer did, but he didn't start the opener. He took the job from Van Raaphorst (not sure on that spelling) later in the year and started the homecoming game and never relinquished his position. As for other true freshman starters, there was only one and I can't remember his name. He too, did not start the opener.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:20 PM ^
So, it sounds like there is a decent shot that Corp could start the opener, but Barkley could take over after an early season loss to Ohio State or somebody. Not that I want OSU to beat USC, just a hypothetical