Matt Barkley is the best player in the country and, according to preseason polls, he plays for the best team. Add in the fact that USC superstars tend to do well in Heisman Trophy races, and there’s every reason to consider Barkley a strong preseason favorite to capture the bronze statue on the arms rigid.
So, the best player on the best team – perhaps the most famous program in college football – in a big media market. For a Heisman campaign, that’s called a “good start.”
Plus, Barkley has a good story. Entering his fourth year as a starter without ever redshirting, he rescued the Trojans from the oblivion of harsh NCAA sanctions. He could have entered the NFL draft last spring and almost certainly would have been a first-round pick. Instead, he opted to return for his senior season to take care of, he said, “unfinished business.”
Of course, some of this was about individual desires. Barkley wants a chance at the Heisman and to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. He liked the idea of a college football season without Andrew Luck playing in the same conference. But a bigger part was about the team, Barkley’s management and his belief in USC tradition.
Off the field, Barkley, who already earned a degree in communications, is an articulate and opinionated guy, which is amusing in this age of homogenized, tightly controlled college athletes. If you follow him on Twitter, you get some substance and humor instead of trite observations about reality TV or the weather. Consider his catchphrase: “I play quarterback, but that doesn’t define me…”
Do you want community service? He has served missions in South Africa and Haiti, where last summer he brought 15 Trojans teammates.
A party animal ? He has known his girlfriend for 17 years. They plan to get married after the NFL draft this spring.
When it comes to football, Barkley earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2011 – Luck! — and third-team All-America honors from the Associated Press after leading USC to a final top-five ranking and a 10-2 finish. He ranked eighth in the nation in passing efficiency and his 39 TD passes ranked first in the Pac-12. Over the final four games of the season, he completed 72.7 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and just two picks, ending Oregon’s 21-game winning streak in Eugene along the way.
Barring injury, he’s almost certain to write his name atop the Pac-12 record books for career passing yards and TD passes. He needs 2,765 yards to eclipse former USC player Carson Palmer’s 11,818 yards and 20 touchdown passes to beat former Trojan Matt Leinart’s 99 career throws.
Palmer and Leinart won the Heisman Trophy. It would be a shame if Barkley didn’t follow in their footsteps.
