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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
USC's Matt Barkley says he'll play, in pain if necessary
Trojans need a tune-up after off-key performance
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
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.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Barkley's big night goes down in USC lore
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.
"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
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.
