Trojans Football News

USC's Matt Barkley says he'll play, in pain if necessary

2009-09-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

By Gary Klein latimes.com

USC quarterback Matt Barkley says he is ready to play, pain or no pain.

Barkley, who started the first two games and then sat out the loss at Washington because of a bone bruise in his right shoulder, said Tuesday that he was planning to start Saturday night against Washington State at the Coliseum.

But Coach Pete Carroll cautioned that he would monitor the freshman's progress before any choice was made between Barkley and Aaron Corp.

"It could happen if everything works right," Carroll said of Barkley's starting.

Barkley and Corp split first-team snaps during Tuesday's full-pads workout before coaches told Barkley to ice his shoulder and sit out the final portion of practice.

Barkley was accurate throughout, but he acknowledged he still feels discomfort and is not throwing at full velocity.

"I don't really have any zip on it yet," he said.

Meanwhile, Corp is preparing to start again after struggling through much of the loss at Washington.

Corp threw for only 110 yards and had a pass intercepted, one of three Trojans turnovers that contributed to a 16-13 defeat.

"Coming off that field was not a good feeling -- I don't want that to be my only feeling as a starter," he said. "So I definitely want to get back out there and I definitely want to prove that I'm capable."

Asked whether he had tried to insulate himself from fans' criticism, Corp said, "There's criticism?" and then he chuckled. "Just kidding. I've really not paid attention to that. . . . What really matters is what's being said within the team."

Carroll is not likely to make any move regarding the starter until late in the week.

"I don't know which way to go yet," he said. "I'd like Barkley to get back in there and get him back to playing again.

"We'll just have to wait to be sure."

Mustain gets some kicks

Mitch Mustain could never have imagined that his first start at USC might come as a punter rather than at quarterback. But it could happen.

"I won't argue with it and I'll gladly take it," said Mustain, a fourth-year junior who transferred to USC from Arkansas in 2007.

Mustain took second-team snaps at quarterback and also did kicking drills in an effort to unseat Billy O'Malley as the Trojans' punter.

"If I can do it and I'm the best guy out there, I'd like to get to play," Mustain said. "If I have to give the ball to the other team to do it, that's fine."

Mustain warmed up with Barkley in the fourth quarter of the Washington game but neither was called upon by Carroll.

Mustain, out of the mix as a possible starter at quarterback for Saturday's game, remains mostly upbeat.

"I don't know if Matt's going to be able to go or not," he said. "If not, I guess I'll still be No. 2, theoretically."

With the Trojans' offense failing to impress during most of the last two games, some fans are clamoring for Mustain to get a chance.

Mustain is unmoved.

"People always have something for the backup, so that's always nice, but again it's not reality," he said. "It's not going to make my situation any better so we'll see what happens with it."

Quick hits

Safety Taylor Mays (knee) did agility drills but remains sidelined because he cannot move well laterally. . . . Tailback Joe McKnight practiced despite an ankle sprain suffered against Washington. . . . James Montgomery, Washington State's top running back, will be out the rest of the season after having surgery for a leg injury suffered in the Cougars' overtime win over Southern Methodist. Montgomery had 167 yards rushing in the first three games.

Trojans need a tune-up after off-key performance

2009-09-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

By Gary Klein latimes.com

Pete Carroll swears it was only a simple tribute, a way to let the USC marching band know he hears them.

But Carroll's choice for his "song of the day" Monday on his many social media network platforms rang curious.

With the Trojans coming off an embarrassing 16-13 upset loss at Washington, Carroll selected the Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright."

No symbolism or commentary intended, according to Carroll.

"Our band plays that song," he said, chuckling. "I just thought it would draw some attention."

Not that the Trojans are lacking for any.

Carroll, his coaching staff and his players continued to invite national scrutiny after what has become an almost annual misstep against a previously unranked Pacific 10 Conference opponent.

USC was a three-touchdown favorite against Washington, a team that this month ended a 15-game losing streak that included a 56-0 loss to the Trojans last season.

The defeat, once again, might have ended USC's hopes for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

"That's in our head, but it's not what we focus on," senior cornerback Kevin Thomas said.

Instead, Carroll is hoping his team will regroup for a run to an eighth consecutive Pac-10 championship and possibly more.

The Trojans have played in seven consecutive BCS bowl games.

"We've been here before and hopefully we'll be able to turn it as we have in times past," he said. "That's way, way, way easier said than done."

On Monday, the Trojans watched film and attempted to put behind them a game in which they committed three turnovers that killed potential scoring drives.

"It's 'Tell the Truth Monday' so we always get the truth out," senior tight end Anthony McCoy said.

And the truth was?

"We [stunk] that game," McCoy said.

The defeat, like those in previous seasons against Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford, also left more than a sour taste in Carroll's mouth.

"It's pretty miserable," Carroll said of the aftereffects of losing. "I think Bill Parcells said it was something like waking up in the middle of the night with vomit in your mouth.

"He was on the money."

The Trojans began moving forward with a short practice that featured increased focus on special teams and the return of freshman quarterback Matt Barkley.

Barkley, sidelined Saturday because of a bone bruise in his right shoulder, split first-team snaps with Aaron Corp.

Though Barkley's throwing motion appeared to have returned to normal, his velocity had not.

Nevertheless, Carroll was encouraged. If Barkley progresses through the week, he will be under center Saturday night against Washington State.

"I'd love for him to come back and start if he's ready to go," Carroll said.

If Barkley is deemed not ready to play, Corp will start again after throwing for only 110 yards, with one interception, against Washington.

Carroll hinted that there also could be a shake-up in the tailback rotation if Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson continue to fumble.

Johnson lost a fumble against Washington; McKnight's two fumbles were recovered by the Trojans.

"They have to take care of stuff all week long and make sure we feel good about it or they're not going to play very much," Carroll said. "It has to go to that. There's too many other good guys that can play."

Carroll continued to defend the conservative play-calling that has characterized the Trojans' offense.

And he gave no indication that it would cease.

"If we have to be closer to the vest, we better be because we can't keep giving the football away or we're not going to win any games," he said.

But several players said it was more than just turnovers that stymied the Trojans.

Center Kristofer O'Dowd pointed to a few instances of poorly executed footwork that prevented plays from developing.

McCoy also focused on the less obvious.

"To the fans' eye, it was Corp throwing the pick and running backs fumbling," he said. "But you noticed that some blocking schemes were messed up where some guys couldn't get free.

"That forced [Corp] to throw to a guy who wasn't open. Just little things, little mental mistakes we've got to fix."

Offensive lineman Jeff Byers, a sixth-year senior, is confident that the Trojans will put the loss behind them.

Comparing the Washington defeat to others, he said, is useless.

"You try to forget about them so it's hard to compare to the ones from years past," Byers said. "You just know you get that feeling in your gut and it motivates you to work hard."

Gable ready, willing and able

Junior tailback C.J. Gable is keeping his cool despite no opportunities to carry the ball in the last two games.

Gable said he was ready to play against Washington despite being ill the night before.

Gable, who tumbled down the depth chart after fumbling last season against UCLA and Penn State, acknowledged frustration that other tailbacks continue to get opportunities despite fumbling.

"If they fumble and they get back in, I guess those are the guys that can do that," he said. "I just know I can't do that.

"Whenever I get my opportunity, I'm holding on to the ball because it might be the last one I ever get."

Quick hits

Linebacker Malcolm Smith suffered a high ankle sprain against Washington and is doubtful for Washington State. Luthur Brown, Shane Horton or Jordan Campbell could start in his place. . . . Safety Taylor Mays (knee) did some running but his status for Saturday is still to be determined.

The truth is out there for USC fans, if they can handle it

2009-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

By T.J. Simers latimes.com

I e-mailed USC sports information director Tim Tessalone to find out what time Monday I might talk to punter Mitch Mustain.

He replied: "QBs available on Tuesdays after practice as always."

My response: "I had no idea Mustain is a QB -- does Pete know?"

What better time to drop by USC than on "Tell the Truth Monday," as Pete & the Boys like to call it, to find out what they've got against Mustain.

The last time I asked the question was during Carroll's "Tell 'em anything to go away Tuesday" media session before the season opener, Carroll becoming very testy and dismissing the question.

And until Saturday evening, I was a Trojans fan.

"You're like a cockroach," Tessalone said, and in this case -- dead meat was the obvious attraction.

The Trojans threw away almost any national championship chatter with an inexplicable loss to Washington, many USC fans now calling for a quarterback they've never seen play.

I stopped by USC on Monday to find out if Mustain has ever been told why the coaching staff treats him like someone from UCLA.

But even though Mustain isn't doing much of anything these days, Tessalone said Mustain would not be allowed to talk. Then he went to the kid and told him he better clam up.

What if he talked? Were they going to bench him?

Right now no one seems to know why the kid -- who is 61-2 going back to junior high school, according to the USC media guide -- has a better chance of punting than throwing.

Maybe Mustain has been tweeting nasty things about Carroll. Maybe he should have gone 9-0 as a freshman starter at Arkansas instead of 8-0. Maybe Carroll's obvious coaching crush on Matt Barkley allows him to see no one else.

"I really do like the guy," gushed Carroll when Barkley's name was mentioned. "But I'm not sure I'd call it 'crush' because I really don't know what that means."

Whatever, The Times' daily sports poll asked the question after the loss to Washington: Now who should USC start at quarterback?

Aaron Corp had 15% of the vote, Barkley 40%, and Mustain pulled 45%.

Everyone, of course, loves the guy who isn't playing when things go sour, but why isn't Mustain getting any consideration?

"He's our third-string quarterback," said Carroll in stating the obvious, Barkley taking the bulk of first-team snaps Monday and Corp all the others.

"And that's it," Carroll said.

When Corp struggled against Washington, Barkley began warming up. Mustain was catching his passes.

"I asked both of them to warm up," Carroll said. "I asked Matt how he felt, and he wasn't loose. When he couldn't get his arm going we stuck with Aaron."

Did you ask Mitch how he was doing?

"I already knew," Carroll said, and at 100%, it wasn't good enough to get him into the game. Makes you wonder if Corp got hurt, if they'd send in Barkley -- sling and all.

"I'm watching practice every day," said Carroll, a nice way of saying he's seen enough of Mustain and it isn't enough to warrant a promotion.

Someone has to be No. 3 on the depth chart, and unless the yahoos on the message boards are saying Carroll has no clue when it comes to identifying talent, just what are they saying?

The job here belongs to Barkley, Corp right there with Mustain if Barkley is healthy.

"I got Matt warming up [in Washington] because maybe he could have had the chance to save the day," Carroll said, and like I said, he's really sold on the kid.

The Trojans had no success throwing the ball against Washington. Some folks have pointed to the play calling, others to Corp's inexperience.

"If I were you, I'd go home," Tessalone said, and I'm sure he was just joking. Or maybe they're just not used to losing around here, although it seems to happen every year about this time.

You can look it up. In "Always Compete," a new book by Steve Bisheff, he quotes Carroll as saying after losing the third game last season to Oregon State, "it has to start with me."

Sound familiar? Carroll said the same thing the other day, and so when he talks about his running backs having to learn to hold on to the ball or get benched, what about a coach who apparently hasn't learned from his own mistake -- repeated over and over?

This keeps up, and he becomes Norv Turner.

Carroll, of course, is the best college coach in the game save his Achilles' heel. OK, so second-best in town this year so far. If he had beaten the Pac-10 doormats that have upset his teams over the years, no one would rank anywhere near him. He'd be near perfect.

"That's the best quarterback we've played in nine years here," Carroll said when told Washington has beaten only Idaho and USC the last two years. "Jake Locker has ridiculous talent, and had he remained healthy last year, Tyrone [Willingham] would still be coaching there."

Leave it to Carroll to find a way where he could have won last Saturday's game.

But instead, they were losers, the inexplicable losses in the past costing them a chance to play for the national title. This year will almost certainly be different.

A year ago he had Mark Sanchez at quarterback, thereby allowing the Trojans a chance to rebound. This time around he's going to have to develop Barkley, a project he relishes, but one fraught with up-and-down results.

Carroll is going to have to coach these games like an NFL head coach, and that's scary given his record up there.

He's going to have to run the ball, hold on to it, play field position, rely on defense, keep it close and win in the fourth quarter against the likes of Cal, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Arizona State and Oregon. It comes down to the quarterback, always does.

And maybe the kid wins three or four out of five, good enough for any team, but USC.

Sorry, it's "Tell the Truth Monday," as you know.

Barkley's big night goes down in USC lore

2009-09-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

Dave Curtis nbcsports.msnbc.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio - His throwing shoulder numb, his team's national championship hopes at the brink, Matt Barkley jogged into the USC offensive huddle and explained the moment.

Seven minutes left, he told his teammates. Five points down to the host Buckeyes. Eighty-six yards of field separating them and an enormous sigh of relief.

And then, the true freshman quarterback, college football's newest Johnny Bravo, did something remarkable.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

"He just smiled," receiver Damian Williams said.

In 53 minutes of pre-smile football, No. 3 USC had gained 229 yards, and its offense had scored one touchdown. In the night's final seven, the Trojans slapped together an 86-yard drive and tallied a second touchdown, the difference in an 18-15 victory over No. 8 Ohio State.

What changed? Nothing in the scheme, Barkley and his teammates said. Nothing about his poise and composure and maturity, the stuff about which they've raved since the kid got to Troy. Ohio State's defense, a stalwart so far, didn't shake up much either.

No, all that changed is that Barkley began to emerge as a great one. He completed a pair of third-down passes, converted a pair of quarterback sneaks, and led the most important USC rally this side of the Bush Push.

Afterward, the raving continued.

Said offensive lineman Jeff Byers: "The kid's incredible. I can't think of anything more incredible to do than, you're a freshman, and you lead a winning drive in the Horseshoe."

Said linebacker Chris Galippo: "He played so not like a freshman. I don't know if anyone — (Mark) Sanchez, (Matt) Leinart, Carson (Palmer) — I don't know if anyone could have done it better."

Said USC coach Pete Carroll: "Let the games begin as far as talking about his career."

For a while, Saturday seemed like it would be a forgettable part of that career. Barkley was 12-for-26 for 140 yards before taking the ball with 7:15 remaining. He banged his shoulder taking a late-third quarter hit and said it bothered him the rest of the way.

"Hurt every throw," he said. "But it didn't limit me."

The boy wonder started his fateful drive by taking a sack to set up second-and-14. Then a false start made it second-and-19 at the USC 5. But, as his coaches and teammates predicted, he never panicked.

He got help from Joe McKnight, who finally strung together a big game at a big time (105 total yards), and from a defense that kept the Buckeyes to 265 yards.

When it was done, as an assistant trainer wrapped an ice bag on his shoulder, it dawned on him that his work wasn't done. USC had games like this before, seen heroes like this before. And then the Trojans have slipped — Oregon State last year, Stanford before that — and made the September magic moot.

"This is the best thing that could have happened to Washington," Carroll said of his team's next opponent. "That maybe we'll get all caught up in the glow of this win. I've already addressed the guys about it."

But maybe, some Trojans said, this group will be different. It's already got a different quarterback, they say. A different finish, an undefeated finish, might be ahead, too.

And if that's the case, Barkley can smile all the way to a national championship game.

New faces emerge to produce familiar results for resilient Trojans

2009-09-13T03:23:00.000-07:00

Stewart Mandel SI.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- We've seen USC win no shortage of big games during Pete Carroll's tenure, but it's been four years since we saw them do it quite so dramatically.

Back in 2005, the setting was Notre Dame Stadium. This time it was Ohio Stadium.

Against the Irish that October night, the top-ranked Trojans needed a 61-yard pass on fourth and 9 to keep a game-winning drive alive and a do-or-die sneak to win it. Saturday night against No. 8 Ohio State, third-ranked USC found itself facing a second-and-19 from its own 5-yard line, needing to make up five points and 95 yards in the last six minutes of a game-long defensive stalemate.

The difference: Back then the Trojans had a Heisman-winning quarterback (Matt Leinart) and a soon-to-be-Heisman-winning tailback (Reggie Bush) to push their way to victory. Saturday night in front of 106,033 hostile fans, a true freshman quarterback (Matt Barkley) and a previously inconsistent tailback (Joe McKnight) took their turns etching themselves into USC lore.

After being held without a touchdown for nearly 55 minutes, after starting their eventual game-winning drive with a sack and a false-start penalty, Barkley (15-of-31 for 195 yards and an interception) completed consecutive 20-plus yard passes, McKnight powered his way to 32 yards on five carries (he finished with 60 yards on 16 carries) and Stafon Johnson crossed the goal line with just 1:05 remaining to deliver an 18-15 victory over a surprisingly resistant foe.

"Over the years, it seems like either we've blown teams our or lost really close-fought games," said linebacker Chris Galippo, whose first-quarter 51-yard return of a Pryor interception set up USC's only other touchdown. "This was the first game where re really had that game-winning drive, that game-winning stop -- all the things that go into a fairy-tale story."

For about 53 minutes Saturday night, it felt like the fairly tale was playing out on the other sideline.

After all those big-game meltdowns these past few years, the Buckeyes were standing toe-to-toe with the same team that pounded them 35-3 a year earlier. If anything, the game was playing out exactly the way one would expect Jim Tressel to script it. Though Ohio State's offense struggled to find a rhythm, its defense was mostly dominating the Trojans' offense, continually pinning them with poor field position.

When Trojans center Cooper Stephenson's errant snap sailed over punter Billy O'Malley's head and out of the end zone for a safety to put OSU up 12-10 early in the third quarter, the Horseshoe roared with excitement over such an obvious momentum-changer.

But the Buckeyes never could put the Trojans away, blowing countless opportunities. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor (11-of-25 for 177 yards, with 36 rushing yards) never found his rhythm. Twice in the second half OSU drove deep into USC territory only to come away with a field goal and -- in a highly questionable decision by Tressel -- a punt, after a third-down sack of Pryor pushed them back to the USC 36.

All the while, the Trojans ... well, they danced. During breaks in the action, Ohio State's band repeatedly played a catchy riff from the White Stripes' song "Seven Nation Army." The Buckeyes' student section jumped along. On their sideline, USC's players kept jumping right along with them.

Their coach, as befitting his personality, encouraged it.

"I don't know how to convey this, but, we didn't think we were going to lose at any time," said Carroll. "We kept the juice going on the sideline. We needed every single guy jumping like that the entire game to get this done."

Ultimately, USC needed more than some rhythmic jumping to pull off the victory. With 7:05 left, down 15-10, their true freshman -- having compiled just 140 passing yards -- trotted on to the field with the task of engineering a do-or-die 86-yard touchdown drive.

Carroll, his coaches and his players had talked repeatedly about Barkley's uncanny confidence and composure belying his age. Now, he would have to show it. When he walked into the huddle, with the game and, possibly, the Trojans' national-title hopes on the line, "He smiled," marveled receiver Damian Williams. "It showed a lot about his character."

"Our fans had that little section in the end zone. It was basically the 11 of us out there on our own," a smiling Barkley said afterward. "It was fun."

The drive didn't start out so fun for the rookie. On first down, he was sacked by Ohio State's Devon Torrence for a 4-yard loss. USC followed that up with a false-start penalty to create second and 19 at its own 5. With the Trojans desperately in need of a spark, McKnight ran around right tackle for 11 yards to set up third and 8.

That's when assistant head coach Jeremy Bates called for McKnight to run a wheel route. Barkley hit him in stride for a 21-yard gain, then followed that up with a 26-yard dart down the middle to tight end Anthony McCoy.

Despite having gone lifeless for so much of the game, at that point it seemed almost inevitable USC would drive the remaining 37 yards -- and that McKnight would help them do it.

"When we punched it in," said Barkley, "it was good to hear that silence [in the stadium.]"

Most of those Buckeyes fans continued that stunned silence all the way home, a cruelly familiar feeling lately whenever their team faces a highly ranked foe. (Saturday's game marked their sixth straight loss to top-five foes.) Unlike on several previous occasions, however, Ohio State was not outclassed. Its defense played well enough to win.

Unfortunately, the Buckeyes came up one drive short.

"I know this team is just physically drained," said OSU defensive back Kurt Coleman. "We knew the ball was going to be in our court and we had to stop them on that last drive and it's just tough, man. It's tough."

As ugly as they looked at times, the Trojans showed a shade of toughness we haven't often seen of them in recent years. This wasn't a case of Mark Sanchez throwing darts to wide-open receivers against Ohio State's or Penn State's overmatched secondary. Nor did the Trojans unravel when things didn't go as planned like they did last year against Oregon State or in 2007 against Stanford.

With a similar-type "trap" game next week at Washington, perhaps such a rare, tough-earned victory will prevent complacency from befalling them.

"We've already addressed it," said Carroll. "This game can't carry over to next week."

Though he presumably wouldn't mind Barkley and McKnight picking up where they left off.

Barkley causes Elway flashbacks for shell-shocked Ohio

2009-09-13T03:15:00.000-07:00

Dennis Dodd CBSSports.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It was John Elway, The Teen Years.

The Drive on training wheels.

Same rocket arm, same blonde hair, same good looks, same barrel chest, same number. Hell, it even happened in the same state.

Cleveland's lament 22 years ago became Ohio State's horror Saturday night. Up until then, all USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley did was resemble Elway, who is still the author of one of the most depressing days in Ohio history.

On a slightly smaller scale, Barkley ripped the heart out of a frothing, lathered-up stadium. The difference between an NFL playoff win guided by a Hall of Famer and winning a game between two top 10 teams in September was experience. The product of Orange County, Calif. didn't have much. Barkley had played in all of 7½ quarters in college before facing 86 yards ahead of him and a gnarly Ohio State defense with 7:15 left with his team trailing 15-10.

In one dramatic, game-winning drive Barkley channeled Ol' Horse Teeth, at the same time kicking tortured No. 8 Ohio State in the teeth. No. 3 USC won 18-15 in perhaps its most dramatic comeback since the famed Bush Push game in 2005 at Notre Dame.

They'll remember this one for as long as blondes have more fun. Nine months removed from high school, a few weeks after becoming USC's starter as an 18-year-old, a week after becoming the first true freshman Trojan quarterback to start a season, the 19-year-old Barkley (his birthday was Tuesday), directed a drive for the ages.

When Stafon Johnson ran around right end with 65 seconds left for the game-winning touchdown, USC once again proved it could win the big one. The little ones? We'll get back to you on that one. Stanford and Oregon State are still ahead on the schedule.

For now, Pete Carroll's intuition worked. When he named Barkley the starter last month, it was with the feeling that this kid could walk into The Horseshoe and win.

"We waited until about Day 5 to see if he was for real," Carroll said of spring practice. "He handled [things] unlike no one we've seen ... It's unusual a guy can do this."

Fine, but did he have to cut it so close?

Ohio State's defensive line had confused USC's offensive line all night. Barkley played like a freshman for long stretches. His best plays might have been hurling his 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame into the line four times on quarterback sneaks, picking up first downs each time.

Elway? The Drive? Sure, it's a stretch. Elway was a gunslinger. He threw 10 passes in a 15-play drive gobbling up 98 yards to beat the Cleveland Browns in the playoffs. Barkley hasn't fully comprehended how to read a college defense. It wasn't until the second half that quarterbacks coach and play-caller Jeremy Bates stretched him out a little bit.

Even on the final 14-play drive, Barkley threw only three passes. But his drive was just as clutch as Elway's in 1987.

"I think a lot of that was Elway[-like]," said USC running backs coach Todd McNair, who played in the NFL for eight seasons. "I think Elway carried them down the field that day. Matt accentuated the running game. [But] there will be a time when he makes 13 throws in that drive."

This game was always about the quarterbacks. One career or another was going to rise or fall on the result of this game. Saturday isn't a final verdict but it sure is a jumping off point.

In his second year, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor still hasn't scaled that wall that separates him from true greatness. His second pass of the game went right into the arms of linebacker Chris Galippo and set up USC's one touchdown drive -- two yards -- until the fourth quarter.

Really, USC hadn't done much all night until it started at its own 14 with half a quarter left. Barkley was sacked on the first play. Then there was a false start. Backed up to his own 5, Barkley hit Joe McKnight for 21, then found Anthony McCoy for 26.

Suddenly at Ohio State's 37, doom turned into hope. Barkley, according to McKnight, was telling jokes. In the huddle. All night.

"Yeah, it reminded me of Elway's drive," Southern Cal AD Mike Garrett said. "We only had two drives the whole game but that one ..."

The offensive line that had been called the best he'd ever seen by San Jose State coach Dick Tomey, lined up and knocked Ohio State off the ball -- McKnight for one, Barkley sneaked for two, McKnight for four, McKnight for seven, McKnight. Barkley sneaked for four more down to the 2.

"I think we verified who are," Barkley said. "There were a lot of haters out there, a lot of doubters."

The kid obviously heard them all from the record Ohio Stadium of more than 106,000. Go back to high school. This is the Big Ten.

"They weren't saying that in the fourth quarter, though," Barkley said.

Unlike The Drive, the game didn't win a championship. Not yet, but it kept one alive. Losing to a top 10 team wouldn't have killed USC's chances. But winning sure did wreck Ohio State's evening and maybe its season.

Jim Tressel has now lost six in a row against top five teams. His team is a trademark for the Big Ten's dubious rep of late. Pete Carroll? The man is now 14-3 against top 10 teams. Compare that to John McKay, the granddaddy of them all at USC, who lost 10 of his first 17 to top 10 teams.

Barkley played like a freshman at times. His first career interception stopped a second-quarter drive. Other times his receivers just couldn't break loose. The running game was bottled up for most of the game (118 yards on 40 carries).

Tressel was about to win the game by waterboarding the Trojans. Slow death by field position, torture between the tackles. Heck, the man won a national championship doing just that in 2002.

The numbers don't reveal much. Barkley completed only 15 of 31 for 195 yards. But it's how you finish, not how you start. An 11-year-old Jeremy Bates had seen it before on television in 1987.

"Matt definitely has it ...," said Bates, now 33, in a raucous USC lockerroom. "That's a special quality in him and a lot of the special quarterbacks who are able to take the team down in two minutes."

That list grew by one on Saturday.

USC's Barkley grows up a lot in win over Ohio St.

2009-09-13T03:07:00.001-07:00

COLUMBUS, Ohio - True freshman quarterbacks are supposed to make mistakes in big games.

USC's Matt Barkley made his share Saturday night, but when it really counted, he delivered for the No. 3 Trojans in a thrilling 18-15 victory over No. 8 Ohio State.

This was in front of a record crowd of 106,033 at Ohio Stadium and against a team that was desperate to shed its big-game choker label no less.

Down 15-10 with 7:15 left in the fourth quarter, Barkley and the Trojans took over at their 14. A sack and a false-start penalty later and they were facing second-and-19 at the 5-yard-line.

The packed stadium was absolutely rocking.

"I think my ears are still ringing a bit," Barkley says.

Then came six minutes of hell for Ohio State fans.

Barkley led the Trojans on a 15-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that left the Buckeyes with little chance to recover.

Tailback Stafon Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game to put them ahead, but he never gets the shot at the end zone if Barkley doesn't convert a fourth-and-1 rush several plays earlier. Barkley also converted a third-and-1 with a rush for four yards that preceded Johnson's 2-yard score.

"I knew we were going to score," Barkley says.

Then, with the score 16-15, Barkley hit tailback Joe McKnight for the two-point conversion. USC coach Pete Carroll isn't afraid to gamble, whether it's going for it on fourth-and-1 or installing a true freshman at the most important position in the game. Or in this case, both.

No, Barkley didn't do it all in that final drive. Heck, McKnight deserves plenty of credit for racking up 31 yards on five carries. This after being held to 28 yards on 11 carries up to that point.

But Barkley did make clutch first-down passes to McKnight (22 yards) and Anthony McCoy (26 yards). And he didn't let his earlier gaffes or that crowd get to him.

And McKnight gave the credit to his young teammate anyway.

"He showed he's not an 18-year-old anymore. He stepped up and made plays," McKnight says.

Even the defense has his back.

Sophomore linebacker Chris Galippo says "He didn't play like a freshman. I've never played in ann environment this hostile before, but he stepped up and proved he's the man."

No wonder Carroll stuck with the kid.

"I understood why a lot of people would question Matt, but he is a legitimate player," Carroll says. "He showed us he could take the team through a fourth quarter in a tough environment."

Barkley didn't finish with gaudy numbers — 15-for-31 passing, 195 yards, no TDs and an interception. But, these stats don't highlight the fact he got four clutch first downs in four tries. Not bad for an 18-year-old.

And now he's picked up some major experience that's bound to pay off when USC gets into its Pac-10 schedule.

After all, he did a lot of growing up Saturday night.

Highlight of the Night

2009-09-13T02:07:00.000-07:00

Barkley shows he's got the right stuff

2009-09-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

Pat Forde ESPN

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There are worse places for a freshman quarterback to be than his own 5-yard line facing a 2nd-and-19 with a five-point deficit, time wasting and the entire state of Ohio screaming in his ears.

Like San Quentin. Or the mouth of a shark.

Other than that, the situation Matt Barkley found himself in at Ohio Stadium was about as bad as it gets.

It was in this most dire football circumstance that Barkley entered the USC huddle and … smiled.

"Matt came to us with a smile on his face and was just like, 'Let's get it done,' " said Trojans center Kris O'Dowd.

Really? He was smiling?

"Grinning," O'Dowd confirmed.

Did you think he was nuts?

"Maybe," O'Dowd said, grinning his own self. "But I'm going to roll with it."

Oh, they're all willing to roll with this kid now. The Barkley bandwagon, picking up momentum for a month, is stampeding now.

Freshmen don't start at quarterback at USC. And freshmen don't come into a certifiable madhouse like the Horseshoe and beat the Buckeyes. And freshmen certainly don't beat the Buckeyes by leading long, dramatic, game-winning drives in the final minutes.

Until Barkley did all those things.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" said coach Pete Carroll. "That was really good.

"The questions everyone was asking about Matt are totally legitimate. All we can tell you is that the guy is really special."

After producing precious little offensively all night, Barkley conjured the kind of crunch-time magic that separates special quarterbacks (like John Elway and Joe Montana) from merely talented quarterbacks (like Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor). Against an excellent defense, he delivered the most devastating drive the state of Ohio has seen since Elway crushed Cleveland in 1987. Barkley led USC to an 18-15 defeat of the Buckeyes that sucked the sound from a record crowd of 106,033.

But as tempting as the comparison is to Elway and The Drive, the better analogy might be what Montana did to the NFL team from the other end of this state, the Cincinnati Bengals, in the 1989 Super Bowl.

Montana began the winning drive in that game at his own 8-yard line. Before the first play, according to the folklore, Montana looked into the stands and quipped to his teammates in the huddle, "Isn't that John Candy?"

This time, Matt Barkley bopped into the huddle beaming.

"We all smiled," receiver Damian Williams said.

By the time this drive was finished, the Trojans were howling. Rejoicing. Embracing. Winning a potential national championship elimination game that appeared lost for much of the night.

The official stats say Barkley led the Trojans 86 yards in 14 plays, scoring the clinching touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:05 left. The truth is that after a sack and a false start, USC was 19 yards from a first down and 95 yards from a touchdown.

The Shoe shook with noise, as Buckeye Nation anticipated the validating victory that has escaped it since January 2003.

For USC, the situation wasn't hopeless, but you could see it from there. That's when Barkley's arm and tailback Joe McKnight's legs saved the night, one play at a time.

First came a McKnight draw for 11 yards. Then, on third-and-8 from the 16, Barkley found McKnight on an option route against a linebacker and hit him for 21 yards.

Credit assistant offensive coach Jeremy Bates, the Trojans' first-year play-caller, with dialing up just the right stuff at just the right time.

"You've got to believe we're going to find a way," Bates said. "And we did."

The spark of hope from that initial first down of the drive became a bonfire. Barkley then drilled tight end Anthony McCoy on a seam route for 26 yards, down to the Ohio State 37. At that point, you could hear the entire stadium pucker and feel the Barkley legend building.

The next eight plays were either passes or quarterback sneaks by Barkley or runs by McKnight, the superstar recruit who has matured from a duck-and-dodge specialist into a more physical runner as a junior. Finally, on first-and-goal at the 2, Stafon Johnson took a handoff and danced outside the right end to score untouched. Then Barkley passed to McKnight for two points and an 18-15 lead.

"It's on his [Barkley's] shoulders, and he did it," linebacker Chris Galippo said. "He was so not like a freshman. [Mark] Sanchez, [Matt] Leinart, [Carson] Palmer -- I don't know whether they could have done that."

Barkley could. Barkley did. Then Barkley grinned and shrugged, less awed by his precocity than the rest of us.

"This is what it's supposed to be, and what I came here for," he said. "It is kind of surreal, but it's what I've always wanted."

For Ohio State, the victory it has craved for years over a big-boy opponent disappeared in the final minutes.

The Buckeyes can blame their coach, Jim Tressel, for his trademark play-not-to-lose conservatism -- they squandered supreme field position time and again. Tressel's most questionable move was bypassing a 53-yard field goal in favor of one of his favorite plays -- the pin-'em-back punt. Kicker Aaron Pettrey can kick 50-yarders -- if he's given a chance.

He wasn't Saturday, as Tressel waved in the punting unit from the USC 36. The Buckeyes downed the ball at the Trojans' 14 -- which only set the stage for the winning drive.

And Buckeyes fans can also shake their heads over Pryor, the splendid physical specimen who often looks ordinary.

In this battle of young quarterbacks, sophomore Pryor had the ball last. More than a minute remained on the clock when the Buckeyes took over at their own 36-yard line, but they made nothing happen. Pryor was pressured by USC All-America safety Taylor Mays into an intentional grounding penalty on first down, scrambled for 14 yards, then threw incomplete twice.

Just like that, the night was lost. And 15 games into Terrelle Pryor's college career, he's still waiting to have the kind of moment Matt Barkley enjoyed Saturday night.

We Are SC

2009-09-12T21:40:00.001-07:00

No. 3 Southern Cal 18, No. 8 Ohio St. 15

2009-09-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

FOX Sports on MSN

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Backed up to their own goal line, Matt Barkley and Joe McKnight drove into Southern California lore.

Barkley, the freshman quarterback, and McKnight, the shifty tailback, made big play after big play, and Stafon Johnson capped one of the great drives in USC's storied history with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:05 left to give the third-ranked Trojans a 18-15 victory against No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday night.

"We're Trojans. That's what we do," Barkley said. "This is what we dreamed of, coming back like this.

"Doesn't matter where we are in the score. We found a way. I love this."

For the Buckeyes (1-1), it was another big-game heartbreaker, maybe the toughest one yet. Ohio State has now lost six straight against top-five teams, including two national title games and last season's 35-3 loss to USC in Los Angeles.

For the Trojans, it was their 10th straight victory against the Big Ten. None was tougher - and none was likely more satisfying for Pete Carroll's team.

"I think it's a beautiful statement for our whole team," the coach said. "It was really a great job by a lot of guys."

The official stats will call it a 14-play, 86-yard drive, but it really started with USC at its own 5, facing a second-and-19 with 6:09 left in the game.

Suddenly, an offense stymied and held scoreless all second half by a hard-charging Ohio State defense came alive.

McKnight darted for 11. Then it was Barkley to McKnight, who weaved for 21 more on third-and-8.

When Barkley threw a strike over the middle to Anthony McCoy for 26 to get USC to the Ohio State 37, the record crowd of more than 106,000 at Ohio Stadium started to grow uneasy.

Barkley converted a fourth-and-short with a sneak. McKnight, so often compared to USC Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, ran three straight times, showing some power to go with all those moves and got USC inside the 10. Another sneak by Barkley got it to first-and-goal.

Then Johnson swept around right end, going in untouched, pointing toward the USC section as he crossed the goal line. It was the only part of the huge crowd cheering. The rest was silent.

Barkley and McKnight hooked up one more time, appropriately, for a 2-point conversion that meant an Ohio State field goal would only force overtime.

But with no timeouts left, Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes offense went nowhere with their last chance.

Just when it looked as if the Buckeyes would shake their big-game bugaboos, they'll now face more questions about their inability to beat the very best. Just when it looked as if Big Ten pride would be restored - at least a little - the league took another high-profile hit.

"All losses hurt," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "This one hurts the most because it's today."

McKnight ran for 60 yards and had 45 receiving, modest numbers, but most of them came at the most crucial time.

Barkley finished 14 for 31 for 195 yards with an interception. He was sacked twice and took some shots, but just a few days removed from his 19th birthday, he already has a drive that could define his career - in his second game.

"He's not 19," Carroll said. "He's our quarterback. I'm not worried about how old he is. Numbers mean nothing."

Pryor made some plays for Ohio State with his arm and his legs, throwing for 177 yards and running for 36 in a game dominated by defense and field position.

Coming off last year's drubbing by USC, Ohio State couldn't have come up with a worse way to start the rematch.

Pryor's short toss over the middle was picked off by Chris Galippo around midfield and he returned it 51 yards to the Ohio State 2. The Trojans needed four downs, but Johnson bulled in for a 1-yard score to make it 7-0 less than four minutes in.

With their fans a bit stunned and probably fearing the worst after so many recent disappointments, the Buckeyes and Pryor responded.

The rangy sophomore hit Dane Sanzenbacher streaking down the middle for 56 yards to set up Dan Herron's 2-yard touchdown run. Midway through the first, it was 7-7 and Ohio State's crowd was back into it and blaring.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter, with USC's Jordan Congdon knocking home a 21-yarder on the last play of the half to cap a snappy 2-minute drill by Barkley.

They traded punts and Ohio State won the field position battle and took the lead in the third quarter.

After pinning USC at its own 10, the Buckeyes forced USC to punt from its end zone. That turned into two points for Ohio State when a high snap slipped through the hands of punter Billy O'Malley for a safety with 9:03 left in the third.

Pryor and Ohio State then took advantage of excellent field position after the free kick, and drove to setup a 22-yard field goal by Aaron Pettrey with 4:49 left in the quarter to make it 15-10.

Instant Analysis: USC-Ohio State

2009-09-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

ESPN

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Instant analysis from USC's 18-15 victory against Ohio State at Ohio Stadium.

How the game was won: Backed up to his own 4-yard line, USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley led a masterful drive against an Ohio State defense that had dominated most of the game. With help from junior tailback Joe McKnight, who made several huge plays, USC went 86 yards in 14 plays and drained 6:10 off the clock. The Trojans finally overcame their terrible field position, while Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes never could take advantage of theirs.

Turning point: Facing second-and-19 from the USC 4-yard line, McKnight surged for an 11-yard gain and then caught a 21-yard pass from Barkley for the first down. A second turning point came on fourth-and-inches from the Ohio State 28-yard line, when Barkley sneaked for the first down, his third conversion of the game.

Player of the game: Barkley deserves a ton of credit, but this has to go to McKnight, who came back from cramps in the third quarter to make several key plays on USC's decisive drive. The junior had 61 rushing yards and 45 receiving yards in the victory, but the numbers don't show how much he meant to USC.

Second guessing: Ohio State didn't use Terrelle Pryor as a runner nearly enough. Pryor is always at his best on the move, but he once again tried to be a pocket passer and failed. The Buckeyes couldn't capitalize on favorable field position throughout the second half and scored only one touchdown.

What it means: USC remains the best big-game team in the country, and it has something very special in Barkley, who led his team to victory in an extremely tough environment. The Trojans remain on track for a possible national championship push despite losing the core from last year's team. This is a huge blow for Ohio State, which controlled the tempo and played its type of game (defense, field position, special teams). Pryor will take much of the heat for this one after failing to consistently move the offense. Another big-game loss for the Big Ten, though USC was extremely fortunate to escape Columbus with a win

Trouble on the road? Not for USC QBs

2009-09-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

By Pat Forde

Motivation is a mental thing. But when asked to gauge Ohio State's level of incentive to play USC on Saturday, Trojans tailback Stafon Johnson went straight anatomical.

[+] Enlarge

Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesMatt Barkley will get his first taste of an opposing road crowd Saturday.

"It's going to be a big football game," Johnson said. "They're going to go balls out."

So there you have it. Johnson now joins Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the quotes-that-might-make-my-head-coach-wince club.

Really, though, the discussion of this game belongs below the belt. Everyone wants to see what kind of onions USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley brings to the Horseshoe.

Brassy enough to lead the Trojans to another victory over Ohio State, and their 23rd straight regular-season nonconference win? Or is there shrinkage in front of 102,329 frothing, fermented fans in Barkley's first collegiate road game?

"I would think he's going to have fun with it," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "And he's going to be excited to see what it looks like to be in an opponent's stadium of that stature and all. And then he's going to go play. I don't think it will matter to him at all."

The USC record book backs Carroll's confidence. This is the program that will go anywhere in September and play anyone -- and win big. The experience level of the quarterback has varied considerably, but the result never does.

The Trojans have won seven straight road openers -- six of them against big-six conference opponents. Average score: 43-12. The opponents: Colorado, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Hawaii, Arkansas, Nebraska, Virginia.

Not a cupcake in the bunch. And not a single close game.

It's vital to note that USC won the turnover margin in every one of those games and was a plus-16 overall. It's also vital to note that every starting quarterback excelled -- and that Carroll was not overly conservative with any of them.

[+] Enlarge

Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesMatt Leinart's 2003 campaign started with a big win at Auburn.

Carson Palmer launched himself toward the 2002 Heisman Trophy by completing 22 of 30 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown in a 40-3 beatdown of Colorado. That game signaled USC's return to prominence.

In 2003, unknown Matt Leinart shocked everyone by riddling heavy favorite Auburn for 192 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-30 passing. The next year Leinart picked apart the Hokies for 272 yards, three touchdowns and zero picks to start his own Heisman season, and as a senior blitzed Hawaii for 332 yards, three TDs and one interception.

In 2006, everyone fretted about John David Booty -- until he lit up Arkansas for 261 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Booty did the same to Nebraska the next year, completing 19 of 30 passes for 144 yards and two scores.

And last year it was Mark Sanchez's turn, ripping Virginia for 338 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

None of those quarterbacks was smothered in bubble wrap. Each threw a minimum of 29 times in those games, and on average USC ran the ball only eight more times (40 per game) than it threw it (32 per game).

Can Matt Barkley now replicate his predecessors?

Palmer, Leinart, Booty and Sanchez all were young once -- but none was a true freshman starter. Even as thickly hyped and obviously mature as Barkley is, the Newport Beach, Calif., product remains a teenager. And if you stick a teenager in a stressful situation, there is no telling what might transpire.

Today, Jeff Byers is a sixth-year senior offensive lineman at USC. Way back in 2004, when the Trojans opened against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., he was just trying to avoid hurling on his cleats.

"We traveled all the way across the country, it was my first game," Byers said. "Neutral field, supposedly, but I think there were 5,000 USC fans and all the rest were for Virginia Tech. I just remember it ringing in my helmet because it was so loud. I will never be that nervous again."

Which is why you have to ask: What if Barkley is that same freaked-out freshman Saturday?

"He's a pretty even-keeled guy," Byers said. "I don't think he's going to get too worked up. It was a good thing to get that first game at home [against San Jose State] and get the jitters out. Everyone is talking about his stats [15-of-19 for 233 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions], but his poise was more impressive than anything."

Carroll concurred.

[+] Enlarge

Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesTerrelle Pryor knows what it's like to be the freshman quarterback.

"Everybody was watching, and I think the really exciting thing about that is he knew everybody was watching," Carroll said. "He knew all the focus that was on him, and it didn't faze him, and he played the way he was capable of playing, which was really cool."

Johnson, another senior, said he never saw any cracks in Barkley's confidence in the huddle.

"To be honest, he kind of surprised us," Johnson said. "That's what makes him who he is."

While Barkley is playing, Pryor will be watching from the opposing sideline. Last year Pryor was the true freshman quarterback the nation was talking about -- but he didn't start when the Buckeyes went to the L.A. Coliseum and were steamrolled 35-3.

The starter then was Todd Boeckman, who was overmatched by USC's fast, ferocious and experienced defense. Pryor played plenty, throwing nine passes and running 11 times -- but this year he's the hub of the Ohio State offense.

"A year ago when you saw him he was obviously thrust in the situation with very limited experience and he's still not a wily veteran by any means," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "He's a true sophomore that has a totally different supporting cast around him. He had Beanie Wells and [Brian] Robiskie and [Brian] Hartline and some vets around him a year ago. Now, from a playing standpoint, he's kind of a veteran.

"That's a little bit daunting for a young person to be the guy with the most experience. I think he's grown a lot through those experiences. He understands the game much, much better."

The last time USC faced a quarterback with Pryor's physical gifts? Vince Young ran the Trojans out of the Rose Bowl with the national championship on the line.

The last time USC brought a true freshman starting quarterback into a setting this balls-out hostile? Forget it. Never happened before.

But you won't find anyone in the Trojans' camp willing to publicly worry. Not about stopping Terrelle Pryor, and not about propping up Matt Barkley.

"Just keep the maturity, keep the poise," Johnson said. "If our youngest freshman can do that, we'll be all right."

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.

Cautious game plan tries patience of USC fans

2009-09-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Randy Youngman

LOS ANGELES -- How high are USC fans' expectations?

It is USC's fifth possession of the first quarter during Saturday's opener at the Coliseum, and lowly San Jose State is leading, 3-0. The Trojans already have fumbled the ball away twice and punted twice.

On second-and-9 at the USC 43, freshman quarterback Matt Barkley throws a pass out of bounds, eliciting a smattering of boos from the crowd of 84,325.

That didn't take long, did it?

On the next play, Barkley laterals to running back Joe McKnight, who is stopped for a 5-yard gain, forcing USC's third punt. This time, the boos are louder, probably because the cardinal-and-gold partisans didn't like the ultra-conservative play call on third-and-9, especially with the home team losing.

The fan impatience was understandable, but so was USC's cautious game plan with the first freshman in USC's storied history getting the start at quarterback

When Pete Carroll tossed the keys to his shiny Ferrari of an offense to Barkley on Saturday, the coach essentially allowed his 18-year-old QB to back it down the driveway in the first quarter. (Barkley was 2 for 4 for 20 yards. The first completion was for minus-2 yards and the second resulted in a fumble by tight end Anthony McCoy.)

In the second quarter, the coach allowed Barkley to drive the sports car around the block. (Barkley was 6 for 7 in the quarter for 117 yards.)

And after the USC offense finally got untracked, Barkley was allowed to weave in and out of traffic, expertly steering the fourth-ranked Trojans to touchdowns on six consecutive possessions en route to a convincing 56-3 rout.

Think the fans who were booing in the first quarter feel foolish now?

All Barkley did was complete 15 of 19 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown — a 4-yarder to Rhett Ellison in the third quarter — before flipping the car keys to backup Aaron Corp.

And Carroll was quick to point out that Barkley threw the ball out of bounds when his receivers were covered, as he is coached to do.

"When you're 15 of 19 and you throw three balls away, that's a pretty good day," Carroll said afterward, mentioning that there were some people "on the outside looking in" who wondered why he had started an inexperienced freshman. "Good, solid game — not spectacular. Everything we wanted."

Barkley didn't have to be spectacular and wasn't asked to be. He threw an assortment of short passes, quick "out patterns" and "bubble" screens, sometimes rolling to his right and sometimes using play-action and spinning back to his left to throw on the run. His talented wide receivers and running backs turned some of them into big plays.

His tailbacks also kept the pressure off, with McKnight (145 yards, two TDs), Allen Bradford (43-yard touchdown sprint) and Stafon Johnson (27 yards and two TDs) leading a rotation that produced 342 net yards rushing.

Barkley did not attempt any deep throws downfield, but that doesn't mean he went untested.

"The most difficult pass a quarterback can make is from the opposite hash mark to the (far) side of the field on a comeback route," said flanker Damian Williams, who caught three passes for 67 yards. "He did that a couple of times today."

Maybe Barkley wasn't asked to throw deep because a showdown at Ohio State with BCS implications is looming. You certainly don't want to show the Buckeyes everything in your arsenal.

Who knows? Maybe Carroll will let Barkley put the pedal to the metal next week.

Food for thought: Is USC's schedule easier than it first appeared?

Yes, there are six games against teams that played in bowl games last season, including five teams that won those games. But in the past three days, there were two final scores that raised eyebrows: Boise State 19, Oregon 8; and Ohio State 31, Navy 27.

Next week's game at Ohio State and the Oct. 31 game at Oregon were supposed to be two of the biggest obstacles facing the Trojans this season. But now you have to wonder.

Reggie-esque: If former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was watching Saturday, he had to be proud when McKnight cut back several times on the way to a 54-yard TD run that he punctuated with a somersault into the end zone.

McKnight insisted it wasn't a planned somersault — that he was stumbling and was forced to improvise — but I'm not buying it.

Parting shot: Overheard this grudging praise for Carroll, from a woman wearing USC colors, as I walked through the Coliseum stands on the way to field in the closing minutes: "He makes $4 million a year, so I guess he knows what he's doing."

Another USC freshman stands out

2009-09-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

Scott Wolf

USC quarterback Matt Barkley was not the only Trojans' true freshman with an impressive debut.

Linebacker Jarvis Jones finished with five tackles, including one for a loss, in his first game at strongside linebacker.

"Jarvis Jones showed up and was great for us today," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Jones said he felt comfortable from the outset, although he was initially surprised the Trojans were losing 3-0after the first quarter.

"But I knew we'd come back eventually," Jones said.

Jones, who is from Columbus, Ga., said he was not sure what to expect from his first game in front of a large Coliseum crowd. Many fans expected him to go to Florida, because he grew up a Gators fan.

"It was a lot of fun today," he said. "I wanted to go some place far from home and it surprised some people, but I think I made the right decision."

Next up for Jones is a trip to Columbus, as USC travels to Ohio State next weekend. "The way we've played against San Jose State, we'll have a good chance," he said.

Quote of the day

San Jose State coach Dick Tomey on the Spartans' 3-0 lead: "For a while, it looked like we could compete. Obviously, it was an illusion."

Injury report

USC tailback Curtis McNeal bruised his shoulder, which he originally injured in training camp. Wide receiver Robbie Boyer, the cousin of quarterback Matt Barkley, broke a bone in his left hand.

Scott reaction

Pacific-10 commissioner Larry Scott attended the game, two days after he was at the Oregon-Boise State game where Ducks tailback LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State defensive end Byron Hout.

Scott said he did not want to watch the USC game from the field after being down on the sideline during the Blount incident.

He also said he called Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson because Hout was not punished by Boise State.

"It takes two to tango," Scott said. "I called the commissioner of the WAC and asked him to look into it at a conference angle. I told him I'd expect him to act."

How soon they forget

During the game, the Coliseum videoboard showed a clip of former linebacker Rey Maualuga returning an interception for a touchdown against Ohio State last year.

Except Maualuga's first name was spelled, "Ray."

USC routs SJSU 56-3 in opener

2009-09-07T01:25:00.003-07:00

GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise

Photo Gallery: USC 56, San Jose State 3

LOS ANGELES - You may have heard, Saturday was Matt Barkley’s USC debut.

As good as he was against San Jose State, though, he was upstaged by the formidable array of Trojans talent around him.

Fourth-ranked USC emerged from a first quarter slumber and blew the undermanned Spartans away, 56-3, in front of 84,325 at the Coliseum.

Those in attendance may not remember the final score years from now. But it’s quite likely they will recall they were there when freshman quarterback Barkley played his first game for the Trojans, almost flawlessly.

Barkley, who will turn 19 on Tuesday, completed 15 of 19 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown. He never came close to throwing a dreaded interception, making his first college game look breezy.

“Matt absolutely handled it,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “This was no big deal for him. He was out there with a smile on his face.”

Of course, just about everyone wearing a USC uniform was out there with a smile on his face.

After two first-quarter turnovers helped drop the heavily favored Trojans into a surprising 3-0 deficit, USC demoralized the visitors with a four-touchdown stampede in the final 10:47 of the first half.

“We thought at some point (the offense) would just bust it open,” said senior safety Taylor Mays, who was never worried about the defense, either. His unit may be retooled with nine new starters, but it looked a lot like the suffocating defense that surrendered nine points per game last season.

The Trojans allowed the Spartans just 9 yards on the ground and 121 yards total.

“Normally a team wouldn’t be able to rebound from all the people we lost,” Mays said. “We’re not as big as last year, but we’re faster and we’re hungry. We have a chance to do different things.”

It was a showcase game for the running backs, as well. They averaged 7.6 yards per carry and scored seven of the eight touchdowns. Anyone who left for popcorn risked missing a spectacular run.

Starting tailback Joe McKnight zigged and zagged for a 54-yard touchdown and a 6-yarder.

Allen Bradford, the junior from Colton, turned a sweep into a 43-yard score. Tailback No.5, Marc Tyler, sliced off a 63-yard run that didn’t go for a score. But he finished that drive with a 1-yard touchdown slash.

Stafon Johnson also had two short scores, from 2 and 4 yards, and reserve fullback D.J. Shoemate ended the big day with a 13-yard touchdown catch from backup quarterback Aaron Corp — who, by the way, was 4 of 4 and led the Trojans’ two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

In all, USC ran up 342 yards on the ground, led by McKnight’s 145.

“The offensive line made holes and pushed their blocks up field, and all we had to do was run,” McKnight said.

Barkley’s only touchdown pass came on USC’s sixth score of the day, in the third quarter. He rolled to his right from the 4-yard line and found a lonely Rhett Ellison sprinting from his tight end spot into the Spartans’ vacated left flank.

“It was pretty neat,” Barkley said, adding, “But I wouldn’t have cared if we had all rushing TDs.”

You got the feeling they could have if they’d wanted, and even Spartans coach Dick Tomey conceded it.

“For awhile it looked like we could compete,” Tomey said. “Obviously it was an illusion.”

Barkley plays like it's his birthday, acts like it's not his 19th

2009-09-07T01:25:00.001-07:00

GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - Let the record show that Matt Barkley's first touchdown pass at USC came with 8:21 left in the third quarter against San Jose State on Saturday.

That leaves him just 98 short of Matt Leinart's school record.

Not that expectations for the freshman from Santa Ana Mater Dei are high or anything, but he might as well get used to it.

"He's not normal," USC coach Pete Carroll said, proving that even he, Barkley's biggest public booster, is running out of superlatives.

Well, let's face it. Barkley isn't normal, and as Carroll added, "Who wants to be normal anyway?"

The only time the 18-year-old (he's two whole days away from 19) admitted to letting the emotion of his unusually speedy college debut get to him was during the pregame Trojan Walk. That's when the players get off the bus and stroll through their admiring legions on their way into the Coliseum.

"I had butterflies," Barkley said. "I was thinking, how cool is this?"

Then he stopped having butterflies, warmed up and guided USC to a 56-3 win.

He was mechanically perfect, only because they didn't need him or ask him to do anything spectacular. He completed 15 of 19 passes, mostly shorter routes, for 233 yards and one touchdown. One pass went through a receiver's hands. The other three incompletes were on purpose -- out-of-bounds throwaways when he saw receivers were covered.

Perhaps the most amazing stat: he had zero nerves.

"I just pictured it like it was practice," Barkley said.

Later he said, "I felt at home. Guys were just saying, be yourself. It didn't feel that different."

When he chipped in his only TD pass as USC's lead reached 42-3, he even skipped the personal elation.

"I was just glad he caught it," Barkley said of tight end Rhett Ellison, who was alone in the right flat for the 4-yard pitch-and-catch.

His unnatural poise is as much a part of the Barkley mystique as his strong arm and eagerness to immerse himself in preparation.

"I don't get nervous and I don't get super pumped up," Barkley said, shrugging and reminding reporters familiar with his storied prep career that he was the same way in high school. "That's just not me."

He's so chill he could double as one of the sideline misters.

"He gave us no indication he'd be anything but cool and calm," said the coach who had never started a true freshman at QB, but claims he hasn't had a single second thought about the decision. "He went up against our No. 1 defense all spring and fall and he was never fazed."

Even when USC stumbled through the first quarter, giving up two fumbles (neither involving Barkley), Carroll said, "He wasn't having any problem."

Tailback Joe McKnight said Barkley never flinched in the huddle.

"He was calm, collected," McKnight said. "He gave us little pep talks like, let's go, and stuff like that."

Someone asked Barkley about Ohio State next Saturday, and if he thought playing in front of 100,000 in Ohio Stadium seemed daunting.

"It won't make a difference," he said. "I'm sure the atmosphere will be nuts, but it won't faze me."

He smiled and added softly, "I probably don't know what I'm in for."

Finally. Normal.

Bradford leaves frustrations behind with one run

2009-09-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

MATT CALKINS PE.com

LOS ANGELES - Was it everything Allen Bradford was hoping for since he signed with USC in 2005? Not quite. This was more like the trailer for such expectations.

But when the running back from Colton High scored a touchdown off a career-long 43-yard run in the second quarter Saturday, it was a welcome change compared to what the redshirt junior has been used to.

After all, in his first two years with the Trojans, Bradford failed to log significant playing time while competing as part of one of the deepest groups of running backs in the country. And last year a hip injury ended his season early.

So when he crossed the goal line to the sound of a roaring Coliseum crowd, he had a reason to smile for a second.

"First I saw the safeties, then I saw the end zone, then I saw the crowd. I'd been waiting for that since I got here," said Bradford, who played running back at Colton but was more highly touted as a linebacker. "I'm just glad the coaches gave me the opportunity to showcase what I could do."

His mind-set when he first saw the hole?

"I thought, I'm going make this. I'm out," said Bradford, who finished with 53 yards on four carries.

They meant to do it

With San Jose State leading 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, frustrated USC fans were booing their team's inability to score.

USC middle linebacker Chris Galippo was asked about the slow start.

"The game plan was to actually have the offense come out slow so they (the Spartans) could challenge the front seven," Galippo quipped. "We did that on purpose."

More USC Notes

USC has won its past 12 season openers, scoring at least 21 points in each. It was the Trojans' most lopsided opener since a 62-7 win over Hawaii in 1999.

The Trojans' 28 points in the second quarter were the most since scoring 28 vs. Fresno State in a 50-42 win in November 2005.

USC has scored 40 points 44 times since Pete Carroll was named head coach, and has scored 50 points 17 times.

USC has allowed just 22 points in its past seven home games.

Myles Eden, San Jose State's third-string quarterback out of Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon High, completed 1 of 2 passes for 3 yards.

One Man's Opinion: San Jose State

2009-09-07T00:43:00.000-07:00

WeAreSC

It would be hard to imagine a significantly better start to the 2009 USC Football Season than what we got to watch today. The University of Southern California Trojans thoroughly dismantled an over matched San Jose University Spartan Team by the score of 56 to 3. If one were to be totally honest, one would likely have to admit that for a good portion of the first quarter there may have been some unpleasant thoughts circulating through Trojan Fans' minds. However, from the second quarter till the very end of the game, this edition of the Trojan squad looked simply awesome. The offense was methodical in its domination and the defense defied what one might have logically expected. Any time a team loses as much incredible talent on the defensive side of the ball as the Trojans lost to graduation and/or to the pros, one might expect a drop off. Trust me when I say, that was not the case today. This USC defense was quick, deep and aggressive. I have to believe the the SJS quarterbacks are simply happy to get out of the Coliseum in one piece.

One of the downsides to playing an over matched team is that it can be harder than one might prefer to draw certain conclusions. Classically, one might ask, "Is the USC offense that good or is the San Jose State defense that porous, or perhaps is the truth somewhere in the middle? " Is the tremendous depth that USC utilized today talented enough to play major minutes in all games or was today a fluke? Obviously, nobody can answer those questions with certainty, but one just gets the feeling that when it comes to depth, at virtually every position, USC has as much as just about any college team could ever hope to have in place, especially considering the scholarship limitations that now exist.

Coming into the game two huge questions that may have been on fans' minds were concerning the quarterback /offensive assistant head coach Jeremy Bates and conerning Matt Barkley, the first true freshman to ever start the season in the long history of USC Football. To my eye, Bates did a great job today. Admittedly, it took a while to see what he was going to do with the offense , but by the middle of the second quarter, it was obvious that he was not going to ask Matt to win the game by himself. Instead, Bates called a conservative, methodical game that eventually wore down the opponent, all the while, putting Barkley in position to easily get the ball into the play makers' hands without having to take many risky chances. And boy did that approach work to perfection. The offense ended up with some 620 yards with 23 passes and 45 rushing attempts. Although I don't have the exact statistics at my fingertips, it has not been all that often in the recent past that the runs outnumbered the passes by 2 to 1 with such a favorable end result.

As for the running game itself, what more could anyone ask to see? One might wonder if there is a team anywhere in college football with more talent on one team? It certainly is not a stretch to say that any one of five or six of the tailbacks at USC could be stars at other schools and run for upwards of 1500 yards if he were the featured back. As it is , today we got to see Joe McKnight average a mere 10.3 yards per each of his 14 carries whereas Mark Tyler averaged 14 ypc and Allen Bradford, a guy who finally got some prime time, meaningful carries average 13.3 yards per carry. The purpose here is not to single out any one back, or to slight another by leaving his name off. Rather, the point is far more simple. USC is loaded at running back and if one guy should go down, there is a whole bevy of capable guys right behind him, quite ready to pick up the slack.

And what can anyone say about Matt Barkley? It would be dishonest not to admit that I am a huge Aaron Corp fan and I am sorry that he got hurt and has been passed up by Matt. On the other hand, as is the case with most die hard fans, I simply want SC to win the games, you know, like every single one of them. I could not have asked for a more impressive, steady and reassuring performance by a new quarterback, a guy who happens to be a true freshman, to boot. Not only did Matt Barkley hit of 15 of 19 for 234 yards, but he was not intercepted. In fact, he never came close to throwing a pick. Ironically,on two of the passes that he threw that looked "BAD", ie that sailed way out of bounds, I believe Matt made two of his better decisions of the game. Instead of forcing balls into coverage, he simply launched the ball out of bounds which is exactly what the coaches had hoped he would do under those conditions. And something that might not have been obvious to all is that the USC receivers, at least the secondary guys, were wide open all the time. It seemed like the offense was designed for Matt to have relatively no trouble hitting guys who could then do something with the ball for major YACs. (yards after catches).

As for the receivers, the one striking part feature that I noticed is that they CAUGHT THE BALL. That might sound like a dumb thing to post, but I would urge each reader to think back over the years since Pete Carroll has arrived. How many times, especially early in the season, did the guys get nice passes that they simply dropped? And what might make the receivers happy, as well is that the ball was spread around quite nicely by both Matt and then by Aaron in his mop up roll. Ten different guys caught passes. That is what defines balance, at least to my way of thinking. Damian Williams and Anthony McCoy were particularly impressive with the ball after the catch, though McCoy had some trouble holding onto the ball. Similarly, Havili and even Shoemate knew what to do with the ball once they caught it as well.

The offensive line came to play some serious ball. Now, once again, one has to put this into perspective. San Jose State is not on par with an Oklahoma or Ohio State, but Coach Tomey is a known defensive minded guy with a proven track record. It should also be noted that this was also somewhat of a makeshift oline as well. Starting center Kris O'Dowd was with his knee injury and potential starter Nick Howell was also still hobbled by his ankle injury. Yet, despite all that, the SC Oline was awesome. Barkley was sacked only once and the ground game put up some 340 net yards rushing. For large chunks of the second half, we got to see the young studs on the line. Guys like Matt Kalil, Khaled Holmes, and even Abe Markowitz got some major minutes and seemed to hold their own. I would also like to note that the running game seemed especially potent when the left side of the line consisted of Charles Brown and Butch Lewis. That duo was really potent. We also got to see some excellent blocking from the various tight ends that were in the game for much of the time.

Any time a team such as San Jose State nets only 115 total yards in a game, it does not take a leap of faith to assume that either that unit is lacking and/or the defense that it faced is awesome. In this case, I suspect there are some deficiencies in the Spartan attack, but this SC offense is lights out. I felt before the season ever started that the middle linebacker position would be stronger this year than last, even though SC lost Rey Maualuga to the Bengals. Nothing I saw today has changed my mind. Finally healthy, and finally getting his shot, Chris Galippo did not disappoint. He did not overrun play after play and he got no personal fouls. Malcolm Smith was all over the place and although lighter than Brian Cushing, Michael Morgan is FAST, really fast. The defensive line was relentless and deep. Derek Simmons and DaJohn Harris both saw major minutes and both played some serious ball. It was nice to see Fangupo come barreling through and the defensive ends were also quite busy. What does it say about a team's depth when at the end of the game, at a time when the backups are in, USC had guys named Nick Perry and Devon Kennard in the game. For those who don't follow recruiting religiously, all I can say is that both were national recruits and amongst the best in the nation over the past two years in high school ball. And that is the kind of talent SC now has in back up rolls for their defensive units. For those expecting this defense to miss a beat due to the unbelievable talent lost to the pros over the past two years, forget about it. This team is still loaded, perhaps more than ever before. And oh by the way, the defensive line was missing two starters, or co-starters, guys named Averil Spicer and Armond Armstead. What other team in America could lose them from this year's team and still be as tough as the current USC defensive front seven.

As for true freshmen that saw time, there were Devon Kennard, Jarvis Jones, TJ McDonald, De'Von Fournoy and that other guy, Matt Barkley. There were also a number of redshirt frosh who got in such as Curtis McNeal, Brice Butler, Nick Perry and Abe Markowitz at center. This team is deep and loaded with young talent, that is a certainty.

As for the negatives, well there were a few. Joe McKnight did put the ball on the ground again and so did Anthony McCoy. We all know that Coach Carroll says it is all about the ball and SC did not win the turnover battle today. Each team lost two fumbles. SC did have what has seemingly become the obligatory personal foul but then again, perhaps one should not be surprised with a defense that is as aggressive as the Trojans' defense. The punter averaged only 34.7 yards on six kicks, but he did not have any kick blocked and that is a good thing. Some of the fans might feel that not seeing Matt Barkley really use that big arm of his to stretch the field is a negative. Personally, I do not. Although it might be exciting to see, it was simply not necessary. Similarly, it did not give Ohio State too much insight as to whether or not the Trojans can actually do it. Maybe some think that without Ron Johnson, SC does not have a guy who can stretch the field. Yes, they do. They have a few who can and my strong hunch is that sooner or later, in good time we will see it happen. But then again, if SC can win by running the ball and passing the ball with shorter routes, why complain?

It is obvious that not much has been said about the special teams except for the average on the punts. That is probably a good thing. There were none of those blocks in the back that so many of us had almost come to expect and things seemed to function smoothly. We never saw the field goal kicker and all the PAT's were good. I guess we will just have to sit and wait to see how it plays out, but so far, so good.

Now what? Well, next week USC has a huge road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU had some issues with Navy today, but perhaps they were looking ahead to the big game next week against that little team from Los Angeles, the one known as the University of Southern California Trojans. It is a daunting task for a true freshman to lead a team against Ohio State in Columbus at the Horseshoe. Maybe SC will be in deep---but you have to know that I don't believe that for one second. Frosh quarterback or not, I think USC will be well prepared and more than up to the challenge. From what I have seen from Bates and Carroll, the game plan will be in place that will give the Trojans their best chance to come away with the Win. I don't know for sure how Matt Barkley will react, but nothing he did in his first college game today makes me doubt him. The Trojans will have to try to contain Terrel Pryor and at the same time, move the ball themselves. Last year is history and as we saw in the Boise State-Oregon debacle, the revenge factor is not a cure all by any means.

I thought SC was well coached last year, but the addition of Bates, Snyder on special teams, and Jethro Franklin on the dline has really given the edge to SC over just about all comes when it comes to coaching.

TROJANS' OFFENSE HEATS UP COLISEUM

2009-09-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Greg Katz WeAreSC.com

LOS ANGELES – With No.6-ranked Ohio State barely escaping the Navel Academy in Columbus, Pete Carroll’s No. 4-ranked USC Trojans (1-0, 0-0 Pac-10) unveiled their cardinal and gold-en child freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, and the RSVP message to the Midwest was a resounding 56-3 triumph over the undermanned San Jose State Spartans (0-1, 0-0 WAC) before 84,325 fans in a hot, sun-drenched Coliseum.

Exploding for a 28-point second quarter, the most in a Trojan quarter since the 28-point avalanche against Fresno State in 2005, the good folks back in Ohio must have felt the southern California heat had combined the Midwest humidity to create some real gridiron anxiety after watching the Trojans’ offensive machine show national championship potential. Maybe, too good to be true?

A trip next Saturday to Ohio Stadium for a nationally televised ESPN night game (8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT) will shed some light into where this Trojan team is, but on Saturday afternoon quarterback Matt Barkley looked a vast majority of the time like a seasoned veteran, a future star, and presented the nation with perhaps its next big icon this side of Florida’s Tim Tebow.

“This turned out to be just right for us,” said an obviously happy Pete Carroll. “After putting in so much work for the past few months, it was nice to get out here at home, in front of a crowd, and show what we could do. We had a slow start, which was imaginable, but once we settled down, we played good football. I don’t want to overlook any part of the game, but I thought we played well.”

It was expected that the Trojans would maul the Spartans. After all, they opened 37-point favorites. It’s just that after a shaky first quarter, the Trojans looked like, well, a November Pete Carroll team. We’ll find out next week in Ohio where this Trojan team is at in early September, but for an opening game, it’s hard to fathom the Trojans could have looked much better.

“We started off with bumpy first drives, but we put it behind us,” said Trojan true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, who finished the game with an impressive 15-of-19 for 233 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions.

“However, then we got it rolling. Our offensive line opened holes for Joe (McKnight) and Allen (Bradford) and they have the experience. I was so confident in our guys. I was only a little nervous during the Trojan Walk, but after we said the prayer on the field before warm-ups, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was loving it. You could feel the energy. It was so much fun to be with some of the best athletes in the nation.”

Certainly Pete Carroll was under as much scrutiny as his freshman quarterback. The naming of Barkley over Aaron Corp, who was the Trojans’ starting quarterback in spring through training camp until his leg injury, has been controversial to say the least. However, Barkley’s performance certainly made the Trojans’ head man look good and there is no doubt that another solid performance next Saturday in The Horseshoe will enhance his aura.

“Matt Barkley absolutely handled the situation,” Carroll beamed. “He loved every minute of it and he has showed us nothing but this same demeanor since he is been here. He is a remarkable young man and he was a blast to coach today. What Jeremy (Bates) and Matt put together today was great. We are thrilled about that.”

One of the big questions leading into Saturday’s game was would the Trojans rely more heavily on a running game, especially with potentially explosive junior tailback Joe McKnight?

McKnight, named the Player of the Game, may have silenced some of his naysayers by finishing the game with 145 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Things, however, didn’t start out well for the junior from Louisiana, as he suffered again with a bout of fumble-itis in the first quarter. However, how could a Trojan fan get down on a tailback that averaged 10.4 yards per carry when all was said and done? On this hot afternoon, his totals certainly indicated that Tailback U. is still alive and well.

So will McKnight get the start against Ohio State?

“It’s a game-by-game deal,” said running backs coach Todd McNair. “Whatever works that day we will do. Joe was confident today and he didn’t worry about his early fumble. He didn’t come back to the bench and throw his helmet. Joe was just being Joe.”

With the running game accounting for a whopping 342 yards, much of the credit also had to go to the Trojans’ offensive line, a line that featured several combinations throughout the afternoon. You know the Spartans had a long afternoon stopping the run and controlling the Trojans’ offensive line when their leading tackler was safety sophomore Tanner Burns, son of former Trojan assistant Keith Burns, with 9 stops.

After that shaky first quarter start, the Trojans’ final three quarters sent an early statement to future opponents that you’d better get these cardinal and gold fellas now because they figure to be a handful in games to come. One thing the Trojans, as San Jose State found out, is regularly win opening games in impressive fashion.

It was the 12th straight opener in which the Men of Troy have averaged 21 points on offense.

All you have to know about this particular opener is that after three quarters, the Trojans held a 487-130 differential in total offense. This was certainly one of the more impressive offensive opening games of the Pete Carroll era, regardless of opponent. The only question after three quarters was when was backup quarterback Aaron Corp going to get his opportunity? Corp finally appeared to start the fourth quarter.

The Trojans’ defense bent a couple of times early on, but things tightened up rapidly against San Jose State’s spread-option offense, a Pete Carroll calling card. While the Trojans’ offense rolled up an impressive 620 yards, the Trojans’ defense emulated their training camp performances, holding the Spartans to just 121 yards of offense.

“I thought the first quarter was a good test for us,” said Trojan sophomore middle linebacker Chris Galippo, who finished with a team-high 9 tackles. “ They scored first and we had prepared for them to do their quarterback options, but they didn’t do a lot of that.

“I thought the turning point in the game was that first quarter. You felt some pressure, but it was a good experience for us. We’ll be ready for Ohio State next week and will go in pretty confident.”

The Spartans struck first with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter, as Spartans’ sophomore field goal kicker Tyler Cope converted a 41-tyard field goal for San Jose State’s only lead, a 3-0 margin.

Ironically, the first quarter of Trojan ineptness wasn’t a case of true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley looking inexperienced, anything but. It was a case of Trojan veteran offensive performers like junior tailback Joe McKnight and senior tight end Anthony McCoy fumbling the ball away to the Spartans and keeping the guests from NorCal at a high emotional level.

If anything, heavy underdog San Jose State proved in the opening quarter that they came to play and compete, and the Trojans proved they were their own worst enemy. Needless to say, the folks in Columbus watching the national telecast were given some false encouragement after watching their own Buckeyes struggle against Navy.

“For a while, it looked like we could compete,” said Dick Tomey, San Jose State head coach. “Obviously, it was an illusion. In the final analysis, they were much better and much better coached than we were.

“Coach Carroll has another good football team. I’ve seen them do that to too many good team. I’ve watched a lot of tape when the game was close and then suddenly it was a blowout.”

Although the Trojans out-gained the Spartans 77-67 in total offensive yard at the conclusion of first quarter, the Spartans still held a confident 3-0 lead on the scoreboard.

“Give them a lot of credit,” said Spartan wide receiver Kevin Jurovich. “They beat us pretty well.”

Despite all the confidence that San Jose State was building in the first quarter, it was nothing more than an illusion. When the second quarter unraveled, suddenly the Trojans looked remarkably like the team on New Year’s Day that ripped Joe Paterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions.

“It’s disappointing,” said freshman linebacker Travis Jones, who celebrated his birthday in the Coliseum against the No. 4 team in the country. “We came with thoughts to win and compete all day. We came out strong, but 20 minutes of good football is not enough. But we played a heck of a team.”

That second quarter saw the Trojans’ offense awaken, thanks to an exciting 40-yard punt return by Damian Williams.

“I think my punt return showed we were capable of making big plays against them,” said Williams, who lead all Trojan receivers with three catches for 67 yards. “I got some big blocks. It’s all about playing our game; all about us. We have to stay as a band of brothers.”

From there, quarterback Matt Barkley went to work completing passes of 13 and 10 yards to fullback Stanley Havili and wide receiver David Ausberry, respectively. From the Spartans’ 4-yard line, tailback Stafon Johnson found a huge whole in the San Jose State defensive interior and went virtually untouched into the end zone. With Jordan Congdon’s extra point, the Trojans went up 7-3 with 10:47 remaining in the first half.

With first-year offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates mixing up plays brilliantly for Matt Barkley, the Trojans scored again with 5:11 left in the half on a a two-yard run by Stafon Johnson around the right side. The drive took just 5 plays and traversed 58 yards, highlighted by 33-yard catch-and-run by Damian Williams. With Condgons’ PAT, the Trojans were now up 14-3 and the rout was on.

Almost immediately, the Trojans struck again in lightening fashion as junior tailback Allen Bradford, long a big star in training camp carries, duplicated what he had done in camp, by exploding 43-yards to the Promised Land. The Trojans went 44 yards in two plays and with Congdon’s PAT, it was 21-3 with 2:28 left till intermission.

“I thought that Allen Bradford (53 yards on 4 carries and one explosive 43-yard touchdown run) was great today,” said running back Todd McNair. “He has the speed to be a home run hitter. He runs hard.”

Yes, the sign of a good team, even against an inferior opponent like San Jose State, is to show a killer instinct. The Trojans, at least on this hot afternoon in the City of Angels, showed that character trait moments later.

With just 23 seconds left in the half, the Trojans marched 65 yards in 6 plays, as tailback Joe McKnight maneuvered the right side for a 6-yard score score. Congdon’s extra point finished the 28-point Trojan second quarter, and the Men of Troy headed into their air-conditioned Coliseum locker room with a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.

The first half stats were evidence of the second quarter Trojan demolition of the Spartans. The Men of Troy more than doubled the San Jose State offensive yards 384-117. Perhaps just as impressive was the first half stats of quarterback Matt Barkley, who was 8-of-11 for 137 yards and, more importantly, no interceptions.

Perhaps the biggest non-surprise, based on an offensive line that has been called the best in the country, was the first half rushing totals, as the Cardinal and Gold dominated 147-30 in yardage. Junior tailback Joe McKnight had 62 yards (6.2 avg.) while fellow running back Allen Bradford had 53 total yards and averaged 17.7 per carry. The rotation of McKnight, Bradford, and Johnson looks like a winner.

“I thought our line did pretty good today,” said junior offensive lineman Butch Lewis, who started at left guard for most of the game and then moved to left tackle in the final quarter.

“They did a couple of slants on defense, but we picked it up throughout the rest of the game. Joe (McKnight) was exciting, especially that flip into the end zone. We tried to get our backs into space. It helps our line to have everybody back. It’s easier to run the ball this year than last year because of all that experience.”

Perhaps the Trojans were aware of Ohio State’s struggles earlier in the morning and wanted to send a message in the second half.

The second half began the same way the second quarter ended – an explosive continuation. With less than two minutes into the third quarter, Joe McKnight brought the Coliseum crowd to its feet with a weaving, balancing act through the Spartans’ secondary that covered 54 yards and ended with a somersault into the end zone. Congdon’s PAT made it 35-3, and the only question left was when would second unit quarterback Aaron Corp make his appearance? Oh, the drive? Just 73 yards in, oh hum, three plays.

“The offensive line made great blocks,” said McKnight, who grinningly said that his somersault into the end zone wasn’t planned. “I was stumbling and falling and I didn’t want to go down. I was just trippin’, so I just made a flip out of it.”

With 8:21 in the third quarter, Matt Barkley threw his first and certainly not his last touchdown pass as a Trojan, a 4-yard toss to tight end Rhett Ellison, who also recorded his first TD reception as a Trojan. This drive was an 86-yarder in six plays that took 2:56 off the game clock. The keys to this scoring success were a 44-yard pass from Barkley to tight end Anthony McCoy and then a 21-yard reception by Joe McKnight. Congdon’s 6th extra point made it 42-3, and the boys in Las Vegas knew there was going to be some happy customers.

The third quarter ended with the Trojans commanding a 42-3 lead. Some of the Coliseum folks had either seen enough or were simply exhausted by the heat or both started making their way out of the fabled venue.

Fans that were still able to handle the final quarter heat were treated to making their own evaluation of Trojan backup quarterback Aaron Corp (4-of-4 for 45 yards), who drew a nice round of applause when he entered the game along with redshirt freshman tailback Marc Tyler. How many programs in America would love to have a backfield of Corp and Tyler?

Tyler wasted little time bringing the fans to their feet with a 63-yard weaving run that lead to an eventual 1-yard touchdown burst by Tyler with 10:56 left. Congdon again converted the PAT and the score was now 49-3. The drive was 70 yards in 5 plays.

The Trojans finally finished the scoring carnage when Corp threw a 13-yard scoring throw to sophomore fullback D.J. Shoemate, who slipped out of the backfield, and the telethon-like scoreboard with Congdon’s PAT, was 56-3. The final Trojan drive was 53 yards in 9 plays.

So when it was all said and done, did the Trojans send a message to the Ohio State Buckeyes?

“No, I don’t think we sent a message to Ohio State,” offensive lineman Butch Lewis said. “We sent a message to San Jose State.”

Yes, Butch, there will be no argument from coach Dick Tomey and his San Jose State Spartans after a long and painful Saturday afternoon in the storied Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Trojan Rose Bowl Pigskin Review – The Trojans are now 4-0 with San Jose State…Temperature at game time was 89 degrees…San Jose State brought their band to the Coliseum…Before the kickoff, San Jose State elected to have the Trojans take the field from the tunnel first…Prior to kickoff, there was the new NCAA pre-game handshake. Selected players from both teams met at the center of the field…The Trojans, which seems like a tradition, won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half…Before the game, there was a ceremony honoring the memory of Ryan Davidson, longtime Trojan fan who passed away in the off-season from cancer…Trojan kicker Jacob Harfman’s first kick-off was a touchback, and the Mount San Antonio transfer finished the afternoon with 3 touchbacks…Billy O’Malley, the Trojans new punter, averaged 34.7 per boot…Trojan soon-to-be College Football Hall of Fame coach John Robinson was recognized and was given a standing ovation…The Trojans, who were last in the Pac-10 last season in penalty yardage, were flagged 9 times for 72 yards. San Jose State recorded 7 flags for 72 yards…Marc Tyler’s fourth quarter touchdown was his second of his career…The Trojans have now won 11 games in a row, 10 home games in a row, and 13 straight non-conference home games…Stafon Johnson’s two rushing touchdowns gives him 16 career rushing touchdowns…Both teams lost two fumbles…Trojan defensive end Nick Perry had two sacks…All-America safety Taylor Mays recorded 5 tackles, second behind Chris Galippo…Starting his first game, reshirt freshman defensive end Wes Horton finished with two tackles.

Barkley wins debut, throws for 233 yards in USC rout

2009-09-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

ESPN

LOS ANGELES -- Matt Barkley's first pass at Southern California went for minus-2 yards. His first four series with the Trojans resulted in two fumbles, two punts and a 3-0 deficit to San Jose State.

A typical freshman quarterback surely would have tensed up at this burgeoning Coliseum calamity. Instead, Barkley showed why coach Pete Carroll insists there's nothing ordinary about his teenage starter -- although the Trojans will find out a whole lot more next week at Ohio State.

Barkley passed for 233 yards after a slow start to his USC debut, and the No. 4 Trojans' fleet of tailbacks ran for six touchdowns in a 56-3 victory Saturday.

Barkley acknowledged a brief tickle of butterflies when he exited the stadium tunnel and experienced the Trojans' home crowd for the first time in uniform. Otherwise, the Orange County product who grew up going to Trojans games was wholly unintimidated as the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener at USC.

"It was so much fun to be out there," Barkley said. "It felt slow out there. I felt calm. The guys did a great job saying, 'This is you, be yourself.' ... I don't really get nervous, and at the same time, I'm not going to get super pumped up."

Of course, Barkley's California cool will get a stiffer test when the Trojans visit the sixth-ranked Buckeyes next week. USC, which pounded Ohio State 35-3 last season in Los Angeles, has won 11 straight games since last September's loss to Oregon State.

Although the Trojans were at their best when he handed off, Barkley still went 15 for 19 with no interceptions -- and without making a single throw Carroll didn't like. USC pounded the Spartans with six consecutive TD drives starting in the second quarter, with Barkley's only TD pass putting the Trojans up 42-3 midway through the third.

"The slow start was about as understandable as you can imagine, and once we settled down, we played some good football," Carroll said. "Matt Barkley just absolutely handled this. It was just no big deal for him. ... He gave us no indication there would be anything other than him being cool and calm, which is exactly what he was today."

It still helps to have USC's formidable offensive line, which cleared the way for 343 yards rushing and two scores apiece by Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight.

"[Barkley] came to the huddle calm and collected," said McKnight, who rushed for 145 yards as the closest thing to a featured back for the Trojans. "He even gave us a couple of pep talks."

Marc Tyler rushed for 72 yards and a score, and Allen Bradford made a 43-yard TD run as the Trojans rolled through their tuneup for next week's showdown in Columbus, where the Buckeyes struggled to hold off Navy in a 31-27 win Saturday.

Kevin Jurovich has five catches for 64 yards for the Spartans, who didn't have the size or strength to stop USC's rushing attack. Although quarterbacks Kyle Reed and Jordan La Secla both played extensively, neither had much success against the USC defense, which lost the majority of last season's starting lineup to the NFL.

"They were too much better for us to hang in there," San Jose State coach Dick Tomey said. "I've seen them do that to lots of teams. It's a lesson for us to learn. I hate it, but it's necessary for us to get better."

The Trojans' first four drives ended in fumbles by McKnight and McCoy along with two punts, including a 24-yard clunker that set up Tyler Cope's 41-yard field goal late in the first quarter to put the Spartans ahead.

Barkley was 2 for 4 for 20 yards in the first quarter, but new Trojans play-caller Jeremy Bates largely kept the freshman's assignments simple with handoffs and several rollout throws. Before the sun-baked Coliseum crowd even had much time to get nervous, USC's relentless running game drained the tension with back-to-back TD runs by Johnson, followed by Bradford's romp and a TD run by McKnight on either side of halftime.

McKnight made a jaw-dropping 54-yard TD run on the Trojans' first drive of the second half, slithering out of tackles and changing directions before somersaulting over the goal line.

Barkley hit Rhett Ellison for a 4-yard score in the third quarter. Three of his incompletions were throwaways, and the fourth was a well-executed fade that didn't connect.

Aaron Corp, who lost the starting job to Barkley in training camp, threw a 10-yard TD pass to D.J. Shoemate in the final minutes of USC's 12th consecutive season-opening win.

NCAA College Football Polls, College Football Rankings, NCAA Football Poll

2009-08-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

ESPN

The USA TODAY Coaches' Top 25 college football coaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking.

USA Today Coaches' Poll
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS	PVS
1.	Florida (53)	0-0	1466	1
2.	Texas (4)	0-0	1386	3
3.	Oklahoma (1)	0-0	1358	5
4.	USC (1)	0-0	1321	2
5.	Alabama	0-0	1134	6
6.	Ohio State	0-0	1126	11
7.	Virginia Tech	0-0	1020	14
8.	Penn State	0-0	988	8
9.	LSU	0-0	917	NR
10.	Mississippi	0-0	889	15
11.	Oklahoma State	0-0	861	18
12.	California	0-0	711	25
13.	Georgia	0-0	707	10
14.	Oregon	0-0	694	9
15.	Georgia Tech	0-0	559	22
16.	Boise State	0-0	542	13
17.	TCU	0-0	461	7
18.	Utah	0-0	404	4
19.	Florida State	0-0	371	23
20.	North Carolina	0-0	293	NR
21.	Iowa	0-0	257	20
22.	Nebraska	0-0	236	NR
23.	Notre Dame	0-0	194	NR
24.	Brigham Young	0-0	178	21
25.	Oregon State	0-0	165	19

Others Receiving Votes

Kansas 138, Michigan State 136, Texas Tech 114, Cincinnati 90, Pittsburgh 64, West Virginia 55, Rutgers 51, Miami (FL) 46, Missouri 44, Illinois 38, Clemson 30, South Carolina 18, UCLA 14, Auburn 12, South Florida 11, Nevada 11, Kentucky 9, North Carolina State 7, Wisconsin 6, Arkansas 6, Northwestern 5, Southern Miss 4, Wake Forest 4, Arizona 3, Boston College 3, CENTRL MICHIGAN 3, East Carolina 3, Colorado 2, Maryland 2, Navy 2, Tennessee 2, TROY 1, Minnesota 1, Michigan 1, Houston 1.

Telfort forced to quit football

2009-07-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Garry Paskwietz WeAreSC.com

Incoming Trojan freshman linebacker Frankie Telfort has been diagnosed with a genetic heart condition that will effectively end his playing career. USC will honor his scholarship and Telfort will continue to attend the university.

"Everybody's football career unfortunately ends at some point and no one's ever ready for it," said USC head coach Pete Carroll on his website. "For some guys, it comes sooner than expected. But you're a football player and a Trojan for life, and Frankie is definitely both."

Telfort had taken part in summer workouts for the Trojans and had been praised by such former USC linebackers as Thomas Williams and Keith Rivers for his impressive play during those drills. Telfort was noticeably absent in recent weeks, however, as he went through a series of tests to confirm his medical condition.

Telfort was examined by several of L.A.'s top cardiologists before flying to the Minneapolis Heart Institute last week for a final opinion. Heart specialists determined the 17-year-old had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that affects 1 in 500 Americans and is the most common cardiovascular cause of sudden death in the world. Telfort has consequently not received medical clearance to play football at USC.

"This is obviously very difficult news for Frankie, his family and all of us in the football program," said Carroll. "But we're very thankful doctors discovered the issue before it led to anything worse."

USC will honor Telfort's scholarship

2009-07-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

ESPN

LOS ANGELES -- Southern California freshman Frankie Telfort has a heart problem that will prevent him from playing for the Trojans.

Telfort, a 17-year-old Miami native considered one of the top linebacker prospects in the country, has been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a serious genetic heart condition that has figured prominently in the lives and deaths of many notable athletes in recent years.

USC couldn't clear Telfort to play after examinations by several top heart specialists in Los Angeles and another opinion from the Minneapolis Heart Institute. The condition causes the heart muscle to thicken, making it difficult to pump blood.

"This is obviously very difficult news for Frankie, his family and all of us in the football program," coach Pete Carroll said. "But we're very thankful doctors discovered the issue before it led to anything worse."

USC will honor Telfort's full scholarship, athletic director Mike Garrett said.

Telfort, who attended Miami's Gulliver Prep, was ranked the No. 8 linebacker in last spring's recruiting class by Rivals.com. Though somewhat undersized at 5-foot-11, Telfort was thought to have a promising career ahead at linebacker or safety for the Trojans.

"Everybody's football career unfortunately ends at some point, and no one's ever ready for it," Carroll said. "For some guys, it comes sooner than expected. But you're a football player and a Trojan for life, and Frankie is definitely both."

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects roughly one in every 500 people, according to the Mayo Clinic, and is the top cause of sudden heart-related death in people under 30 years old. Although it causes no significant health problems for many, the condition can produce dangerous problems with the heart's rhythm.

Veteran NBA guard Cuttino Mobley retired last season after being diagnosed with the condition, which also was linked to the deaths of Boston Celtics forward Reggie Lewis, Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers and retired Portland Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth.

Marathoner Ryan Shay, San Francisco 49ers lineman Thomas Herrion, Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier and former NHL player Sergei Zholtok are among many other athletes also believed to have died from conditions related to enlarged hearts.

WeAreSC.com - Exit Interview: Mark Sanchez

2009-07-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

LQ Singian WeAreSC.com

In the latest of our Exit Interviews series, WeAreSC's LQ Singian sits with Trojan quarterback Mark Sanchez to talk about New York, the prank he played on Coach Steve Sarkisian, and the future of USC at the quarterback position

Let’s talk about your recruitment and your decision to go to USC. What were the main schools that were recruiting you and what made you decide to go with the Trojans?

At that time it was Texas, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and USC. Notre Dame was going through a coaching change so I didn’t really know what was going on out there. I took a trip out there and liked their history. I went to Texas and it was tough to say no to Coach Brown, as it was for Coach Tressel at Ohio State. Both seemed like great options but I think in the end, staying close to home, getting a great education, playing for Coach Carroll was all I needed to hear. They gave me everything that they ever promised. They promised I’d get a chance to compete and that’s what I did and I had a great time there.

At Pro Day I noticed your Mission Viejo High School coach, Bob Johnson, was there to coach you. Talk about your development with him as your coach, and how close you are to him and his family.

I think a lot of my success as a quarterback is really due to my brothers Nick and Brandon, and my dad. Such a great family vacuum, but right there within our family circle is Coach Johnson and his family. His wife Debbie, two sons Rob and Brett, their wives Dana and Charlene have all been like family to us. Coach Johnson is a tough coach. He never lets a play go by without coaching. I think that’s what separates him from the rest of the coaches. He’ll coach you on every snap. He’s tough to please, he wants it perfect but that’s what you want as a player. After playing for Coach Johnson, he’s the best. He’s the first one I called right after my dad on Father’s Day. That’s what he was to me. He was like an extra dad. He was someone I could talk to about anything. He’s the kind of person you want around. I remember when we played one cold playoff game, his wife cut off the sleeves of an old windbreaker and made a hand warmer for me. That’s the kind of family they are. And you saw him on Pro Day because he was the one I wanted to coach me.

Talk about your position coaches at USC, including Steve Sarkisian and Yogi Roth, as well as what it meant to you to play for Coach Carroll.

I was bummed to see Coach Sark go to Washington, but he deserves that opportunity after doing so well with the offense the last few years. It’s only fitting for him to get a head coaching job. I think he’s going to do well, but I don’t know if it will happen right away. He’s persistent and a great coach. He’s mentally tough and knows how to handle that kind of situation. He’s going to be great out there. He’s like Coach Johnson in that he’ll coach you on every rep. Those are the kinds of people you want to be around. They’re the best. With Yogi, he’s now doing stuff with ESPN. I saw him down at the Elite 11 camp. His brother is actually in an off Broadway show and so I went to go see him. Those are the kinds of coaches you make friends for life. I hope somewhere down the road Yogi’s going to be a head coach or position coach somewhere and Coach Sark will do well at the University of Washington, maybe rival USC. As for Coach Carroll, he was energetic and enthusiastic. He was very supportive and just excited for his players. We had a blast playing for him. He is the best around, and it was real fun playing for him.

Before you became the starting quarterback for the Trojans, you had the opportunity to play under the likes of Matt Leinart and John David Booty. Is there anything that you learned from playing with them before it was your turn at starter?

I think I learned a lot from Matt in just how big that position got at USC and how important it is to the country and how everyone knows who the USC quarterback is. You understand what it means what kind of spotlight and microscope you are under and it’s helped as I get into the next level in the NFL. Everyone knows who the quarterback is for the Jets. I learned how to deal with the media through watching Matt go through it. I also learned quite a bit from John David, such as his toughness to play, especially with his injury to his finger during his senior year. To see how he had to sit out a couple of games and then kind of reversed roles and how it did not affect him at all, he was a great leader for the team. He encouraged me. He came back and played lights out in the Rose Bowl. It was difficult for me to not play right away but now I think it was a great experience for me. Now I know how to compete, especially with the next competition coming up with Kellen Clemens. He’s also a great guy like John David.

Talk about the moment when you found out you were going to be the starter, against Arizona.

I was so excited when Coach told me. I remember running out of his office being so excited, calling my family telling them I’m going to play this game, so get ready. I didn’t think it was how I imagined. I got picked off twice in the second quarter but came back and threw a touchdown to Fred Davis. The rest was history. It was a defensive battle. It gave me great confidence going in the next week against Notre Dame. I had a big win on the road against a tough rival and then we ended up losing one late in Eugene, Oregon. I got a lot of experience through those three games that really helped for the next season. That first start was very memorable. I have the ball I threw to Fred Davis in my house in my office.

You’ve had many memorable plays during your time at USC. Which one out of all them is your favorite play?

I think the first touchdown to Fred Davis was fun. The first touchdown I threw to Patrick Turner was another good one. He was double covered, and it was one of those plays where you had to give him a shot. I think any of the Rose Bowl plays were fun to be a part of. The Ohio State game where I threw it to Damian was a good one. I got really close with Patrick and Damian. It was always great to get them the ball in the end zone and celebrate with them.

What about your favorite game?

I think probably the UCLA game. I played this past season at the Rose bowl with both of us in our home jerseys. I threw a touchdown to Damian early and then I dove for the first down and somebody got me with a late hit. I knew what following play we were going to call next. I had just thrown my 29th touchdown and Sark looked at me and said, “You ready bro? Here comes number 30.” Sark kind of lit up with a smile and he called the next play which was perfect for Patrick Turner. After the touchdown, I ran over and gave Sark a chest bump. It was a cool feeling.

You did a great job as a quarterback, but you were surrounded by some pretty good talent, including some good receivers and running backs to get the ball to. How much easier did that make everything for you, and how fun was it play with the likes of Stafon Johnson and Patrick Turner?

I think I speak for all the quarterbacks from Carson to me. You know, Matt and John David would all say that we are very lucky to have those guys to play with and a lot of them overlapped two quarterback regimes. The throw to Fred when I first got to play. Throwing to Dwyane Jarrett and Steve Smith at practice, just watching them and how explosive they are, and watching them play in the NFL was amazing. I was just looking at our schedule for the Jets this year and there are maybe only one or two games we play in preseason and the regular season which is about twenty games in total that do not have an SC player. That’s just unbelievable. I would look at the schedule and just be like, “Oh my gosh, this week is Fili and the next week is Rey.” I’d love to have them on my team, it’s going to feel terrible playing against them! (Laughs.)

What game are you looking forward to the most playing for the Jets?

I think the first game, because Cushing and I have been roommates for two years. We open up against him in Houston. He’s probably going to be starting and hopefully I’ll be on the field as well. It’ll be fun for us as former teammates and former roommates to get after it a little bit.

You’ve been part of winning programs starting from Mission Viejo to USC and now you are playing for the Jets. What do you see about the Jets so far that is similar in terms of it being a program that is ready to win?

If anything, I really lucked out because these group of guys are talented offensively, defensively, and on special teams. Others guys I’ve talked to from USC who are rookies now say that the guys on their team aren’t as close as we were when we were at USC. I am so happy with the guys I’m with. The offensive line has embraced me, the receiving core is doing really well, and the running backs are great. All those guys are so fun to be around. They hang out more than what I expected and a lot more from what other people have told me. I think it reflects our management in Mike Tannenbaum. He looks for great players, but wants the right people. Coach Ryan is as competitive as Coach Carroll. When it’s time for ball, he gets real serious. He gets after his defense. When it’s time to relax, he’s the first one showing us YouTube clips and telling jokes. He loves being around the guys. It’s really a great atmosphere to be around.

How are you liking New York?

I’ll be living in New Jersey but the city is real close. I’ve been there a few times. There is so much energy and excitement there. Jets fans are excited about this upcoming season. They’ll let you know how they feel about New York. The fans have been pretty supportive so far so that’s good thing.

At USC your family was a near fixture at the practice field and at the games. What does it mean to have that strong family presence out there for you?

It’s important. We usually get like 50 people at home games and even for the away games we get 15 to 30 people to go as well. I was always looking for tickets and I still will be looking for tickets because everybody is coming back to visit. They can’t wait for Christmas when I get to come home. They’re excited to have a new favorite pro team and they’re excited for the guys at USC that we’ve come really close to like Damian, Stanley, and Stafon, who have come over for Thanksgiving. My family loves those guys and wants to see them do well so they’ll be at SC games and Jets games. They’re excited about both teams.

Talk about the future of USC as you see it at your position at quarterback. What do you think about Aaron Corp as the starter?

Corp is going to do well for himself and for the team. It’s going to be tough because I know Matt Barkley is doing well too. It’s important. Corp wants to feel that heat right behind him. His job right now is to be a leader and have a presence in the huddle, express his command, show leadership and play well. He’ll do it like how John David, Matt, Carson, and I had in our starting seasons and just go out and have fun and do what he loves doing. I think Barkley’s job is to make it tough on the coaches every practice to start Corp. Eat, sleep, and breathe football. It’ll be an interesting battle. But I know Coach Carroll will have everything under control there.

In the last ten years, USC has been blessed with some very good quarterbacks, from Palmer to Leinart to Cassel to Booty and now Sanchez. How does it feel to know that you upheld the standard that had been set at that position?

I think it’s really special. This was something I grew up dreaming, playing quarterback. Being compared to Carson, Matt, and John David means the world to me. Watching Carson practice when they used to go to UCI. Watching him become a Heisman Trophy winner, get drafted as the first pick, and come back from a knee injury. You just want to see him do well. With Matt and what he accomplished, from resetting records and taking the position to whole new level, and then having John David, just cool, calm, and collected. He delivered on game day and blew up the Rose Bowl and then for me to come in for my one year and have a blast doing what I did and play well in the Rose Bowl. You don’t really think about it until it’s over. It was so fun for me to be a part of it all, and now I’m ready to take this next step with all that in my back pocket and leaning on that experience when I need it.

Talk about the bond that you have with Carson Palmer, who you looked up to as a kid.

I grew up watching him as a kid. I was his ball boy, his water boy, anything. Growing up, Carson was the man. I’d watch him practice during the week, and on the weekend watch him on TV. I’d watch how he led the guys in high school. He had a ton of success, two CIF championships. When he started at USC people were calling to have him benched early on. It was a tough period. Carson just shook it all off and had an amazing end to his career there. The team saw that, the pro scouts saw that, he was the first pick overall, and he has always been the same person. I really try to model my game after him, on the field, but also off the field. Everybody speaks highly of Carson, and I want that for myself too. I call Carson all of the time and he always answers or will call back right away. He is a great guy, and he deserves all of the success in the world.

You graduated in May with what degree?

I got my degree in communication from Annenberg.

Where do you see your career after football?

Hopefully I can play when I’m older and still deciding if I want to come back, like Brett Favre. I hope he comes back. He’s the iron man of football. Who knows. Maybe I’ll come back and work for Garry P! (Laughs.)

People are calling you the face of Latinos in football, and in the NFL. What does that mean to you to have risen to that stature?

It was a big deal when I came to SC. The fans really rallied around it. That’s what we want. We want to try and set an example. Go to school and graduate. Find something that you love doing and do it. I thank them for their support and I love being an icon for them. It means the world to me that they have someone to relate to, to show that they can do it too. If it can help get some little kid inspired, it means a lot.

What will you miss most about USC?

Classes were awesome. Especially those elective classes with some of the guys on the team, those were really fun. I’ll miss the practices when we really got at it and Coach Carroll would have to calm us down. I liked those moments. I liked going in on Tuesdays with my sandwich from the truck on campus and sitting in Sark’s office. I would sit on his couch and we would throw ideas, come up with game plans, and Sark would write them on the wall. I’d look forward to Tuesdays as much as I would look forward to game days. The pranks. One time I had Ricky Rosas hide under Sark’s desk, and he freaked him out! It was so good. He came out with the Gollum voice from Lord of the Rings. Another time was when Cushing, Malcolm, and some of the other guys were in one dorm room the last night of camp last year. I was out with my knee injury and I was just hanging out with the guys. We had like 60 guys in one room just playing beats from an ipod and just freestyling. It was fun. I will take all that with me and look back on it and smile because I was a part of something special.

Any last words to the Trojan fans as you move on to the next level?

Thanks for your support. I had a blast playing for USC. I’ll miss jumping up at the stands right by the tunnel. I’ll miss the Thundering Herd, and watching Traveler run across the field. I thank them for upholding the tradition. Wish me luck and hopefully I’ll see you at a game. Fight on.