Has Matt Barkley met expectations? Plaschke, Simers discuss

Matt Barkley has shown glimmers of excellence in his football career, but has the USC quarterback, who was once hailed as a future top pick in the NFL draft, lived up to his expectations?

In 2009, Barkley was the first true freshman quarterback to start a USC opener in the program's 123-year history. Last season, he threw for 2,791 yards and 26 touchdowns. This year, he's led his team to a 5-1 record.

Was that good enough to live up to his massive hype? Times columnists Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers discuss the topic in their video show, L.A. Loud, moderated by Times reporter Melissa Rohlin.

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-- Melissa Rohlin

USC football: Matt Barkley is Pac-12 offensive player of week

USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who established school single-game records for passing yardage and total offense in USC's victory over Arizona, has been selected Pacific 12 Conference offensive player of the week.

Barkley, a junior, passed for 468 yards and amassed 470 yards of total offense Saturday in the Trojans' 48-41 win over Arizona, which improved USC's record to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Barkley completed 32 of 39 passes, threw for four touchdowns and rushed for one. Receiver Robert Woods took a short Barkley pass and turned it into an 82-yard touchdown, USC's longest touchdown pass play since 2001, when Carson Palmer and Kareem Kelly connected on a 93-yard play.

Barkley has completed 71% of his passes this season. He has 14 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

Washington State linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis and Arizona State kick returner Jamal Miles were selected defensive and special teams players of the week, respectively.

--Gary Klein

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.”

Arizona State 43, USC 22 (final)

No championships were won for Arizona State on Saturday night, but Sun Devils football Coach Dennis Erickson got a Gatorade shower anyway.

USC's dominance of Arizona State is over.

The Trojans, who had won 11 straight over the Sun Devils -- the last loss, 26-15 in 1999 -- were crushed under the weight of their own mistakes in the second half.

USC sputtered on offense in the first half, managing just three field goals. And while the Trojans moved the ball at will for much of the second half, they had a lot of trouble keeping it.

Turnovers on three consecutive possessions -- two fumbles and an interception -- led to 22 unanswered points by Arizona State after USC had taken a 22-21 lead.

USC's five possessions to start the second half:

Six plays, 65 yards for a touchdown.

Nine plays, 80 yards for a touchdown.

Two plays, 24 yards ending in a fumble.

Ten plays, 73 yards ending in a fumble.

One play -- an interception returned 41 yards for an Arizona State touchdown.

Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler was terrific, completing 25 of 32 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Cameron Marshall did the ground work, rushing for 141 yards and three touchdowns in 25 carries.

Matt Barkley completed 21 of 33 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown for USC. But he also lost a fumble and had two passes intercepted -- one that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Corona Centennial High product Shelly Lyons.

Marc Tyler led USC in rushing with 149 yards and a touchdown in 22 carries, but he also lost a fumble.

Robert Woods had eight catches for 131 yards.

Arizona State 43, USC 22 (6:37 left in the fourth quarter)

The Sun Devils have used USC's third turnover of the second half to turn a close game into a rout.

USC vs. Arizona State: Live game updates from Tempe

Arizona State 7, USC 3 (5:42 left in first quarter)

The second time is apparently the charm.

USC kicker Andre Heidari missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt, but Arizona State was penalized for being offside.

Heidari got another chance from 41 yards and nailed it to pull the Trojans to within four points.

Arizona State 7, USC 0 (early first quarter)

Well, that's not exactly the way USC wanted to start.

Arizona State tailback Cameron Marshall took a handoff from quarterback Brock Osweiler, ran to his left and then bounced outside around the end on his way to a 70-yard touchdown.

USC safety Jawanza Starling had a clean shot at Marshall at the 20-yard line, but missed the tackle.

Osweiler scrambled for a first down to set up the scoring play.

--Gary Klein

Photo: USC quarterback Matt Barkley barks signals at the line of scrimmage during the Trojans' last visit to Tempe. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

 

USC football: vs. Arizona State -- in-game updates

USC football: Matt Barkley is Pac-12 offensive player of the week

After passing for a record-tying five touchdowns and leading USC to victory over Syracuse, Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley on Monday was selected as the Pacific 12 Conference offensive player of the week.

Barkley threw touchdown passes to tight end Rhett Ellison, receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and tight ends Randall Telfer and Xavier Grimble in the Trojans' 38-17 victory.

It was the third time that Barkley passed for five touchdowns. He did it last season at Hawaii and against California.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin was low-key on Saturday night, saying Barkley played well.

But upon reviewing the game tape, Kiffin said Barkley was "awesome" against the Orange.

"I think we have become accustomed around here to seeing those kinds of performances," Kiffin said Sunday night. "Those types of days don't happen very often across the country."

Rodney Peete, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez also passed for five touchdowns at USC.

Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards, without an interception. He has passed for nine touchdowns, with only one interception, this season.

More later at latimes.com/sports.

--Gary Klein

Photo: USC quarterback Matt Barkley sets the Trojans at the line of scrimmage during Saturday's 38-17 victory over Syracuse. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

USC football: Trojans defeat Minnesota, 19-17

Shut out in the second half, USC held on for a 19-17 season-opening win over Minnesota on Saturday at the Coliseum when Trojans cornerback Torin Harris pulled in an interception near midfield in the final minute.

USC was up, 19-3, at the half, but the Gophers rallied behind freshman quarterback Max Shortell.

Shortell's only mistake was a pass he threw high trying to connect with Cameron Wilson. Instead of Wilson making the catch, Harris pulled it away, allowing USC to escape.

"We're not very good right now," USC Coach Lane Kiffin said in a postgame television interview. "We've got two good players on our offense. We have to figure out the rest."

Kiffin was obviously talking about quarterback Matt Barkley and receiver Robert Woods.

Barkley completed 34 of 45 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Half of the completions and all of the scoring passes went to Woods.

Woods' 17 receptions established at USC single-game record -- two more than Johnnie Morton had against Houston in 1993. The three touchdown catches tied a school record held by several players -- including Woods, who had three against Stanford last season.

--Mike Hiserman

Quarter-by-quarter recap:

USC 19, Minnesota 17 (fourth quarter)

Those unsuccessful two-point conversion attempts are looming large for the Trojans.

Freshman quarterback Max Shortell connected with receiver Brandon Green for a 12-yard touchdown with just over eight minutes left to pull the Golden Gophers to within two points.

Shortell, who replaced injured MarQueis Gray, has completed five of 10 passes for 80 yards.

USC football: Trojans vs. Minnesota live updates

USC 19 Minnesota 3 (halftime)

USC receiver Robert Woods was slowed by a high ankle sprain and a sore right elbow during training camp and practices leading up to USC's opener against Minnesota.

But you'd never know it.

The sophomore has caught 11 passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Trojans to comfortable halftime cushion.

Quarterback Matt Barkley has connected with Woods on scoring plays of seven, 43 and two yards, the last coming with 49 seconds left in the second quarter.

Barkley has completed 18 of 20 passes for 163 yards while USC has gained 200 yards and limited Minnesota to 131 yards.

MarQueis Gray has completed four of eight passes for 47 yards and rushed for 29 yards in 11 carries.

USC 12, Minnesota 3 (4:07 left in first half)

USC went the entire first quarter without commiting an penalty.

But with Minnesota driving to the Trojans 21-yard line, USC was called for a personal foul after an incomplete pass.

USC football: Matt Barkley, Matt Leinart, Tim Tebow talk quarterback sneak

USC pulled off perhaps the most famous quarterback sneak in college football history when Reggie Bush assisted Matt Leinart into the end zone with the so-called "Bush Push" at Notre Dame in 2005.

Leinart, current Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow are among the voices in a story about the art of the quarterback sneak play in ESPN The Magazine.

Some excerpts from the conversation-style story:

"I just called "Kill!" in the huddle and everyone knew what we had to do."

-- Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos quarterback

"It's not just a meathead play. There is an art to it. You have to know what the defense is going to do before the ball is snapped, know certain guys will slant a certain way when we're in an empty set or that a team doesn't load the box in the red zone."

-- Matt Barkley, USC quarterback

"I think I had six rushing touchdowns my senior year at USC and three were QB sneaks from the 1-yard line. I stole a lot of TDs."

-- Matt Leinart, Houston Texans quarterback

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-- Gary Klein

Photo: USC quarterback Matt Barkley. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times

USC football: Quarterback Cody Kessler makes a move

Injuries forced Matt Barkley to sit out one game in each of the last two seasons, so finding a capable backup quarterback is one of USC’s priorities during training camp.

Freshman Cody Kessler took a big first step toward challenging redshirt freshman Jesse Scroggins for the job with an efficient and mostly poised performance in USC’s first scrimmage on Monday night.

Linebacker Dion Bailey intercepted a pass by Kessler and returned it for a touchdown, but Kessler appeared unfazed. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns against reserves (first-unit defensive linemen, middle linebacker Chris Galippo and safety T.J. McDonald were held out of the second half) and impressed with an array of throws.

Coach Lane Kiffin described the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Kessler as “a gamer,” saying the former Bakersfield Centennial High star was “Not the guy that walks on the field in warm-ups and blows you away.

“There’s been a lot of guys like that that have been great quarterbacks. A lot of that has to do with his work ethic and the way he approaches the game. He’s very mature in his approach to being great.”

-- Gary Klein