USC QB Competition, Barkley Keeps the Pressure On

With today’s scrimmage at the Coliseum, the mid-point of spring practice, freshman QB Matt Barkley is quickly making a name for himself. If you go strictly by the numbers, Barkley has to have a slight edge on third-year sophomore, Aaron Corp.

The freshman threw for 195 yards today on 10-of-13 completions with three touchdowns and one interception. That makes seven touchdown passes in the last two practices.

Aaron Corp by contrast completed 8-of-15 for 146 yards and one touchdown.

But head coach Pete Carroll is not necessarily a numbers guy. The number he most often reflects on is the number of years a quarterback has in his program. If that’s the case, then Corp, a redshirt sopohmore, should get the nod as this is his third year in Pete Carroll’s pro style system.

However, things could be different this year.

With Jeremy Bates, who came over from the Denver Broncos, replacing Steve Sarkisian as quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach of the offense, the playbook has been simplified. It should not take a quarterback three years to be comfortable with Bates’ schemes.

Still, this is basically Pete Carroll’s pro style offense and not GEICO’s – so easy even a caveman can run it. There are dozens of formations and sets that a young quarterback has to learn as well as learning the personnel around him.

But even more impressive than his arm and his accuracy, has been Barkley’s demeanor under pressure and his command of the offense. He knows his progressions and can scramble to give his receivers time to create separation. If no one gets open, he will dump off a pass to a running back or tuck the ball and run.

In today’s scrimmage, he directed an 11-play drive that went for 72 yards and ended with a 15-yard touchdown strike to fullback Stanley Havili. The second drive was a one-play sixty-yard catch-and-run by wideout Travon Patterson. Barkley’s last drive was perhaps his most impressive, going 81 yards in nine plays capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass to wideout Damian Williams on 3rd-and-goal.

That was a much different result than last Saturday’s third-and-goal from the three, where Barkley was picked off by Kevin Thomas, who ran it back 56 yards before Barkley knocked him out of bounds. His ability to learn from his mistakes and to learn quickly is most impressive,

Coach Carroll has commented a number of times on Barkley’s intelligence and the way he has been able to adapt to the college game.

After today’s scrimmage, Carroll remarked, “I’m really surprised that he’s able to handle the stuff as well as he’s handling it. He’s eight practices old and he’s hanging in there, and you can see that he has the ability to make plays. That’s a big positive for him.

“We haven’t seen a freshman able to do this in all of the years, so whatever that means, I don’t know. I’m not saying that’s a statement about the future or our decision, but he’s well ahead of the other guys when they came in and I really can only point to his experience in high school and the program and all that. Again, he just continues to be comfortable in a situation where most guys have never been able to be this comfortable this early.”

Barkley, himself, points out that quickness is the main difference between the college level and high school. “Our receivers are that much faster. Their quickness is at that level as well, so I’m just trying to get used to the offense and get comfortable.”

Another impressive thing about Barkley is his Tim Tebow-like ability to get physical. Last Saturday he threw a nice block to spring fullback Stanely Havili on a 15-yard run. Today in the Coliseum, he threw the lead block for Curtis McNeal on a 27-yard scamper.

And that’s another player who continues to impress this spring. Today, McNeal, a redshirt freshman, led all rushers with 101 yards on 13 carries.

As expected, Damian Williams has emerged as the go-to receiver. Williams had four catches today for 43 yards and one touchdown. Ronald Johnson only had one catch but he made it count. He caught a slant from Aaron Corp and took it 61 yards to the house.

Another redshirt freshman, Brice Butler, has also looked sharp this spring. He had three catches for 45 yards. Fullback Stanley Havili continues to show his versatility as a rusher, a blocker and a receiver. He had three catches for 51 yards.

All in all, Aaron Crop had a fine scrimmage leading three scoring drives. He had the 61-yard slant to Ronald Johnson and later lead a drive capped off by a 14-yard reverse to Brandon Carswell. His other scoring drive ended in a Joe Houston 29-yard field goal.

Although Barkley may have the edge in sheer numbers, it is Corp’s lack of numbers in one vital category that may utlimately win him the starting role.

As Coach Carroll repeats time and time again, “It’s all about the ball!” Corp has shown that he knows exactly what that means. In all the scrimmages so far this spring, he has not thrown an interception.

Barkley, on the other hand, threw one in Thursday’s practice to go along with the one today and the Kevin Thomas interception last Saturday to end a scoring drive deep in the red zone.

Even with his impressive numbers, Barkley will have to protect the ball a little better if he hopes to beat out Corp.

Despite the offense’s five touchdowns and a field goal in the controlled scrimmage, the defense is shaping up real well. Although it’s missing the marquis names of a year ago like Maualuga, Cushing, Matthews and Moala, this year’s defense has some players who are starting to make names for themselves.

NFL defensive line coach, Jethro Franklin on his second tour of duty at USC is turning that d-line into a very solid front. Interior linemen JurrellCasey and Nick Perry each had five tackles. Defensive end Malik Jackson had four tackles and two sacks for 14 yards. Wes Horton, the other defensive end, also had two sacks for 10 yards, and Everson Griffen had a sack and nearly picked off a Barkley pass.

Linebackers coach and assistant head coach of the defense, Ken Norton, Jr., is getting some great output from Malcolm Smith, who continues his exceptional play this spring, and Uona Kavienga. Smith had three tackles and another fumble recovery. Last week, he ran a fumble back 55 yards to the house.

Kavienga tipped a Barkley pass away from the receiver and made the interception. He had another key pass break up earlier and stopped shifty Curtis McNeal for no gain on a running play.

Cornerback T.J. Bryant led all defenders with six tackles. All in all, the defense had 12 different players record tackles for losses that amounted to 59 yards. Six defenders also had pass deflections. There were two interceptions: the one by Kavienga and the other by cornerback Marshall Jones, returning after a hamstring injury.

Coach Carroll is quite pleased with the defense’s progress so far. “I think we’re right on schedule and things look great and guys are playing hard and effectively. I think that’s a real positive halfway through the spring.”