There is a great article in the Daily Trojan today about Mitch Mustain's transfer to USC.
I know that there are some that are not sure why SC wanted Mustain or why Mustain thought he could make a difference here but I am all for it. Mustain is a winner no question as he went 70 as a freshman at Arkansas last season. Its not his fault if Nutt was nuts not to continue using him and essentially lying to Mustain about the direction of the offense.
Sure, it would have been easier for him to transfer to Tulsa and get immediate playing time, but he is proving that he wants to compete for the starting job.
I respect a player willing to come to a school stacked with great quarterbacks and compete for playing time. He could have gone to Tulsa where Gus Malzahn, his high school coach and former offensive coordinator at Arkansas, is now offensive coordinator. He would have had it easy and would have been closer to home, too.
I know there are a lot of people that feel that Sanchez is next in line but if we have learned anything in the past few years its that Pete Carroll EXPECTS his players to compete for their jobs. I realize that Sanchez has not yet had the chance to play when the chips are down but I see nothing wrong with getting Mustain. I have complete confidence in Pete Carroll's ability to evaluate talent and get that talent to produce on the field. Yes we have had some players not pan out like Antwine Perez and Stafon Johnson but you never know how a player is going to work out until he gets on the field to show you what he is made of.
It may be a bit unconventional to have so many QB's and RB's on the roster as if these were all offensive and defensive linemen we would not give it another thought. Nevertheless, I am not willing to seed the starting job to anyone just because he was POY etc. etc. Mustain has proven his ability with big game experience. Experience is the key to success and Mustain has had plenty at the D-1 level. Its not his fault if his former coach gave him a BS line about which the direction the offense was going to go. He did his part but Nutt went in a different direction so Mustain is going his own way...right to USC.
I am happy he is here and I cannot wait to see him compete for the starting job in 2008. I give the coaching staff credit for sniffing this one out and making it happen. You can never have too may weapons.