NCAA Football FanHouse

Barkley Dominates Headlines, USC Lines Dominate San Jose State

Brian Grummell — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:34:00 EST

The buzz for USC heading into Saturday was true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, but after the Trojans' 56-3 thrashing of San Jose State the men in the trenches proved to be the real show. After a shaky first quarter that saw the Trojans trailing 3-0 thanks to three punts and two turnovers, the offensive line took over creating massive lanes on the way to a 342 yard rushing effort (7.6 yards/carry). The line also pass blocked brilliantly, leaving Barkley nearly limitless time to throw.

On the other side of the ball the Trojans' defense logged a stunning 16 tackles for loss in limiting the Spartans to a meek 121 yards of total offense. There's no doubt Barkley is a talent and had his moments in an otherwise conservative passing game plan, but the Trojans' lines really got after it on Saturday in a manner that if it can be repeated next weekend against Ohio State will go a long way towards championship talk this season.

For his part, Barkley mixed in a ton of screens and bootlegs early before coaches opened things up in the second half. He had a few misfires and nearly overthrew a few receivers but its hard to quibble with the numbers: 15 of 19 for 233 yards and a touchdown.

Backup Aaron Corp completed each of his four passes in the fourth quarter, tossing another touchdown as USC was lights out from the midpoint of the second quarter onward.

If one had watched the first quarter or so the old doubts would have remained about these Trojans but something clicked in that second quarter as USC simply outmuscled and out-talented an aggressive Spartan squad. It was staggering to witness, just how forceful USC's lines were -- pulling guards with feet like ballerinas, defensive tackles collapsing the pocket with style and ferocity. Just scary stuff but not all that meaningful unless repeated against a more substantial opponent.

That opportunity obviously comes against Ohio State next week against a Buckeye squad that all but humiliated itself on national television in squandering a home lead against plucky Navy.

Much-hyped tailback Joe McKnight may have finally come out of the fog of the last two years in turning in a scintillating 145-yard rushing day capped by a weaving, physical, 54-yard touchdown run punctuated with a flip as he crossed the end zone. Amazingly he was just one of three Trojan backs to average more than 10 yards/carry, as Allen Bradford netted 53 yards for a 13.2 average and Marc Tyler gained 72 reserve yards for a 14.4 average.

Barkley Dominates Headlines, USC Lines Dominate San Jose State originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Decision Time Is Here in USC QB Battle

Brian Grummell — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:35:00 EST

Filed under: Ohio State, San Jose State, USC

With sophomore Aaron Corp returning from a knee injury to practice by coach Pete Carroll's Tuesday's deadline to compete for the Week 1 starting job, USC's quarterback decision has been pushed back a few days. If Corp had not returned Tuesday, the slot against San Jose State likely would have gone to freshman prodigy Matt Barkley.

Corp's return likely changes the math dramatically. He appeared healthy if a little less aggressive with his runs at Tuesday's practice, looking efficient while Barkley offered up his usual mix of brilliant play mixed with turnovers -- in this case a pair of interceptions.

Carroll has gone out of his way to praise Barkley throughout spring and fall ball, but he's also a stickler for turnovers, a problem Barkley has yet to remedy from his senior year of high school, when he tossed a surprising 18 interceptions.

The battle is likely to be decided by the end of this week. USC has three more practices and then a scrimmage Saturday before game week practices begin and a starting quarterback is needed to run full time with the first string in practice.

My money's on Corp, who is no slouch having been a California High School Player of the Year who keeps turnovers down and completes a high percentage of his passes while also adding some running ability. He's the veteran here and a very highly regarded player in his own right, but simply doesn't have the plus arm of Barkley and wasn't as quick to grasp the pro style offense the way Barkley did.

That said, Barkley will very likely play this year, either replacing Corp at some point (or beating him out?) or in selected duty. This would be unprecedented stuff for Pete Carroll, who has avoided platooning quarterbacks his entire tenure at Troy.

The 800-pound gorilla in all of this is the week two game against Ohio State. Barkley could theoretically start the opener against San Jose State, but USC has to be deeply concerned about his interception woes heading into a 100,000 plus capacity stadium among the most daunting in college football. Corp will likely prove the steadier hand to where if USC doesn't have full faith in the health of his knee they could hold him out of the opener and prepare him to start against Ohio State.

Decision Time Is Here in USC QB Battle originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The A-11 Offense: All Hands on Deck, College Football Will Never Be the Same

Brian Grummell — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:37:00 EST

Filed under: Florida, San Jose State, Stanford, General CFB Insanity

I'm not calling revolution, but there's a new brand of football in town fresh off the pitch in one California high school. Piedmont High School coaches have developed an offense in the last year which sometimes allows all 11 players on the field to be eligible. Pay attention kids, because this is something that can happen in college football and not in the innovation-hostile NFL.

"Going into the season, we thought that either we're going to get fired or we're going to transform the game because of the innovative aspects and the wealth of ideas," [Piedmont High School coach Kurt] Bryan said. "Luckily, it turned out to be the latter."

Clearly. Like any innovation just one year into development, it needs work. However, the offense is already catching on.

Bryan said coaches from 35 to 40 Division I-A schools, and from every conference, have contacted him and Humphries looking for information on the offense. Apparently, the college coaches are quick studies.

[Piedmont High School Director of Football Operations Steve] Humphries said he saw San Jose State run multiple A-11 plays last season against Stanford. Florida ran an offensive play recalling the A-11 against LSU. And Rutgers and the NFL's San Francisco 49ers ran punt plays containing aspects of Piedmont's offense.

In other words, the evolution/revolution has already been televised. Cool.

Much more on the history of a new offense is available at this Rivals.com article, and the A-11 website. I look forward to a more prominent introduction this fall in college football, maybe even a College GameDay segment on it, hm? Get to work, Herbie.

(Via: my brother, who passed along the Rivals article)

The A-11 Offense: All Hands on Deck, College Football Will Never Be the Same originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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