I have never claimed to be a football expert. I never played it in any organized fashion. I really didn't like it or watch it until I moved to Washington DC which is where I got a taste of the Redskins. Even though I went to USC games growing up it was always more about being with my dad and other members of our family than it was about the game.
Going to the old RFK Stadium was a great experience and it made appreciate this game much more. But like I said, I really don't know the intricacies of the game I just love to watch it. Watching the past 7 years of this great USC run has educated me more on the game but I am still never going to be on the level of the coaching staff. The reasons of course are obvious...they live it 24/7/365. They dissect the game to its most concentrated form. The rest of us are just observers.
Because of that type of dedication and expertise I tend to respect the decisions made by the staff and tend not question what their reasons are for doing X, Y or Z. After all, they are the experts...
Right?
You can probably see where I am going here...
Because they are the experts shouldn't we trust their judgment?
Imagine my amazement when I read this yesterday...
This isn't about the long-term future at USC because Barkley is the long-term future. The talent in this kid's arm is like crude oil in a pipe -- it oozes.
And this isn't about the Sept. 5 home opener against San Jose State, either. USC could probably win that game without a quarterback, running the single wing with direct snaps to Stafon Johnson or Joe McKnight.
This is about Sept. 12 at Ohio State, a game that could have a major influence on this season's BCS national title.
Making Barkley's first-ever road trip a nationally televised game at Ohio Stadium is like sending a first violinist to Carnegie Hall before he has learned to play the entire concerto.
You talk about risky business. We know Barkley is getting the nod over Aaron Corp for Columbus because Carroll said in his announcement that the move wasn't "a one-game deal."
Get out your tissues...this is a real tear-jerker.
I have read some of the same things on the message boards. I mean come on is anyone paying attention?
Barkley has fractured Fibula...you can call it a crack all you want but it is still fractured and he if can't use the one thing that separates him from every other QB that SC has had in the Pete Carroll era then, as Zoulou said in the comments yesterday,... Corp without his speed and mobility is John David Booty with a weaker arm, what good is he?
People are missing something here. It takes 3-6 weeks for a fracture to heal...three weeks to lay down a callous (new bone) and another three for it stabilize to handle the stress and strain of any sort of rigorous activity.
Time for an anatomy and physiology lesson...
Lets talk upper extremities first to put it into context. When you take a gallon of milk out of the refrigerator you put ONE AND A HALF TIMES your body weight on your shoulders...
Going up a flight of stairs at a brisk pace will put 2-3 times your body weight on your knees. Taking a brisk jog down the street will put up to 6 times your body weight on you hips and knees.
Now, take Aaron Corp is maybe 200lbs dripping wet, put all his pads on him and ask him to take on the field trying elude tacklers who you know will be gunning for his knee...If that fracture is not fully stable (braces don't help) and he plants and twists the wrong way which is pretty likely then he could re-injure that bone. The only way you can go from there is down and he is lost for the season putting us where we are today.
Those are the risks and PC chose not to gamble...
Heck, even Scott Wolf saw the writing on the wall...
It was apparent during Thursday's practice that Aaron Corp's leg bothered him. What's ironic is it looked worse than it did Tuesday or Wednesday. Was it the result of being demoralized over the QB announcement?
Who knows? But Corp's limited ability to run like he normally does made the decision easy for Pete Carroll to name Matt Barkley the starter.
There will be a flood of quotes about how great Barkley played (and he did fine) but the reason the announcement came today is because Corp did not appear ready during this week's practices.[EP
``It's going to be awhile (with Corp),'' Carroll said. ``I can see it. He's not OK. I thought about it in terms of being his dad. I need to protect him longer.''The problem is that if Barkley plays well against San Jose State, and why wouldn't he, it virtually eliminates the chance of competition for the far-more important Ohio State game on Sept. 12.
That is a solid observation...though I really don't care about tOSU right now, we need to get through SJSU first and that won't be as easy as some think. Dick Tomey will throw the kitchen sink at Barkley. Tomey schemes a very good defense and he has a fair amount of veterans returning so I do not see this game as a chip shot.
Michael Lev of the OCR boils it down even further...
Corp wasn’t healthy. Or at least not healthy enough soon enough.
Short, sweet and dead on...
Chris Dufresne has to be the only one who buys into PC's claim that this is NOT a temporary move.
Of course it is.
Is Dufresne is walking around blind without a cane?
If Pete Carroll doesn't back Barkley right out of the gate that could do more to hurt Barkley's confidence if he has a poor outing than Barkley throwing up all over himself in a game with everyone backing him.
We can all read...so it is hard not to miss that Barkley has not performed at the same level as when Corp was in there. I am not buying the line that Barkley out performed Corp...if he did it was only because he took more snaps. Barkley clearly threw more picks and he clearly has some learning to do. But Corp wasn't in there and if he wasn't injured there is no telling how Corp's camp would have turned out...heck, if he wasn't injured we wouldn't even be discussing this.
Pete Carroll made the move that made the most sense with all the info he had to work with. We have trusted him up to this point so why not now???
I can see that it is not a popular move with some, but Pete Carroll clearly wasn't ready to start Mustain...and that says a lot more to me.
Where this goes is anyone's guess, but I will trust the coaches to make the right move and I will reiterate what I have said in the past...I don't care who is under center as long as USC wins.
Dufresne is clearly being contrarian to stir the pot to make up a controversy when the evidence shows that there is no controversy at all...Corp is not fully healed so he is not ready to go...
It really is as simple as that.