USC football: Pac-12 reprimands Barkley for comments on Burfict

The Pacific 12 Conference reprimanded USC quarterback Matt Barkley on Tuesday for "derogatory and inflammatory comments"  he made about Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict before last week's game at Tempe, Ariz.

Barkley told The Times' Baxter Holmes that, based on his experience playing against Burfict in high school,  he felt the former Corona Centennial High star was "a dirty player."

"His switch is always on," Barkley said. "And it's not a good switch."

Barkley said Tuesday morning that he had also said that Burfict was "a wonderful player" and that his comments were made out of respect.

But Tuesday afternoon, the Pac-12 released a statement from Commissioner Larry Scott announcing the reprimand.

“All of our student-athletes must adhere to the Pac-12's policies on Sportsmanship and Standards of Conduct, which call for our student-athletes to treat opponents with respect and create and ensure a collegiate atmosphere in which to conduct competition,” Scott said. “In these circumstances, Mr. Barkley’s comments were a clear violation of Conference rules and he is being appropriately reprimanded.”