Breaking Down the USC QB Competition

College Football Spring Storylines 2009 looks at the key developments and big news from spring ball.

Perhaps no other storyline carries as much national importance for college football as USC's quarterback battle. With the three Heisman Trophy finalists -- Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy -- returning to Florida, Oklahoma and Texas, respectively, USC may be next in line as a championship contender. The Trojans are hosting a three-man battle between Matt Barkley (left), Aaron Corp (middle) and Mitch Mustain to determine the school's next quarterback who will hopefully follow in the school's lineage of successful signal-callers and maybe even lead the team to a national title.

USC has made it known that, like in 2003 when Matt Leinart won the job, it would prefer to name a quarterback before the end of spring. To that end, it recently dropped senior Garrett Green, who was previously the fourth man in the race. Green has shifted to his on-again/off-again spot at wide receiver. Green made it through the first five of 15 practice sessions, but USC only gave him 15 passing opportunities in scrimmage situations compared to 75, 72 and 60 for the other quarterbacks at that point.

So, it's a now three-man race after Saturday's scrimmage marked practice No. 8 for the Trojans.


Redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp appears to be the favorite, but there's a lot at work here, with a new set of offensive coaches and a ridiculous assemblage of competitors, which also finds former top national recruits Mitch Mustain and Matt Barkley in the mix.

Corp is said to have an average arm, easily among the weakest of the three candidates. But he's also the only one with decent wheels, although Mustain and Barkley have solid pocket mobility. Barkley prepped at Mater Dei High School -- same as Leinart -- running a system similar to USC's. Mustain transferred to USC from Arkansas, where he started and won all eight games as a true freshman while primarily handing the ball off to teammates Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

There's a running feature at USCFootball.com where they've devised an original passer rating formula and tracked the reps and passer ratings for the battling quarterbacks through each practice. The data through seven practices shows Corp with a 140 to 139 lead over Barkley, an early-enrollee true freshman. Mustain trails them both with a 124 rating.

Whats compelling about this is the number of scrimmage reps Barkley has received. USC has never been afraid to throw freshmen into the fire, but Barkley actually leads all quarterbacks with 121 throws. Make no mistake about it, he is clearly in the mix, stealing valuable throws from Corp (120) and Mustain (102). The Orange County Register has actually gone so far as to declare that it is now a two-quarterback race between the steady Corp and the more adventurous Barkley.

Corp's athleticism appeared to give him an edge early on, but he's also likely done himself tremendous favor by not having thrown a single interception in his 120 attempts. Barkley, by contrast, has been boom or bust, a turnover machine of sorts who has also connected on far more explosive downfield plays. In Saturday's scrimmage Corp Barkley threw three touchdowns but also tossed a pair of interceptions an interception.

Trojans coach Pete Carroll had an interesting quote after the most recent scrimmage, saying of Barkley, "He's hanging in there. We haven't seen a freshman able to do that. I'm not making a statement about what that means. I can only point to his high school background. I'm not going to say anything."

Interesting, no?

Because USC is so focused on not turning the ball over, and due to the complicated nature of its offensive system, Corp most certainly has an experience edge to the point that he has to still be considered the favorite right now. But one does have to consider the Barkley possibility.


What was once four is now three, and may in reality may be down to two. USC has seven more spring practices to theoretically figure this out and name its starter after the final scrimmage on April 25.