Another Repeat in Loom at USC

USC Football. These two words stand for national championships, conference titles, All-Americans, Heisman winners, and most importantly, national prestige. Head coach Pete Carroll has given the current generation of Trojan fans a ample tasting of the glory John McKay and other great coaches before him brought to Los Angeles. With 25 First Team All-Americans, seven consecutive PAC-10 titles (record), three Heisman trophy winners, three consecutive Rose Bowl victories (record), two national championships, and oh yeah... all in only eight seasons of work.

An impressive blue print has been set, leading to expectations of repeats in numerous aspects of the program. However, this football season will bring about a lesser documented repeat that is developing in the spring. The open quarterback spot is a three man race following the early departure of Mark Sanchez to the NFL Draft. It involves a high school phenom who left school early to join SC in the spring (Matt Barkley), a redshirt sophomore from Orange County (Aaron Corp), and the third wheel with the most experience (Mitch Mustain). This trio is eerily similar to the one in 2003, who replaced highly touted NFL number one pick Carson Palmer. That group compares to this years batch almost identically and mark my words, the results will be the same.

Barkley = John David Booty. Corp = Matt Leinart. Mustain = Matt Cassel. This is a simple equation that will unfold like seven years ago and lead to the same success. Both Barkley and Booty were high school football national players of the year who left high school early. They were seen as the front runner/heir apparent for the job before ever throwing a pass at Howard Jones Field or the LA Coliseum. Both Corp and Leinart hailed from major Orange County programs in Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei, respectively. During spring, both displayed the poise and patience needed in a West Coast Offense with good game management and fewer turnovers than their counterparts. Mustain and Cassel were the number two quarterbacks the previous season and were both juniors when vying for the starting spot the following spring.

The equation will play out exactly the same at the top with Corp nabbing the starting spot, but will see some shuffle from 2003 with Barkley getting the backup spot leaving Mustain to hold the clipboard in the third spot on the depth chart. Nothing is decided yet, but history is history and it always comes back for a second helping. Until next time...

Branden E. Jones