The problem yesterday and even in the first game against SJSU is that Barkley doesn't have very good pocket presence yet, and is pretty immobile as well (which is more of Corp's strength obviously). Barkley's foot work needs to improve quite a bit too - he's yet to step up in the pocket or be able to feel the direction of the rush/blitzes and sidestep to avoid them. Overall, he's throwing a bit too flat-footed and relying too much on his accurate arm. I think some deeper drops would help too.
The larger concern at this point is the tempo of the offense - stuck in the mud without any rhythm. I realize it's a pro-set, but there's no need to drain so much of the play clock which allows the opposing defenses too much time to get into their stunts. This becomes even more evident when playing on the road in tough conditions, which the Trojans will see numerous more times this season - at Cal, Notre Dame, Oregon.. even next week in Seattle could be trouble.
All that being said, it was an excellent, gritty win and the true freshman performed quite admirably. But there's a handful of far more balanced offenses and far superior QB's that 'SC will have to face this year, so this is definitely a work in progress.
Thank you for your opinion HK, but I beg to differ on a few points. Barkley's footwork and his pocket presence is a thing of beauty, but OSU was slinging mud on him all evening and anyone in their right mind would have been flushed with the lack of protection he was getting. I do agree that Corp is more mobile, but I don't think his football instincts are anything near Barkley's. Not even close. He's much more redshirt freshman than Barkley is true freshman.
You are way off on that one my friend. USC's offense would be far different than it is with Corp in there instead of Barkley. Are you sure you watched the game? Didn't you notice all the pressure on Barkley from every direction? Teams don't normally get away with that when they play USC. There isn't a QB living today that could have handled that any differently unless they were a scrambler which is not Barkley's forte, but he's not inept and getting away from the pass rush either. He is the quintessential pro-set pocket passer.
Barkley never got flustered, just hit and hurried a lot. He had his wits about him after all that harrassment during the game and confidently lead USC down the field to win in the clutch like few QB's could do. Just the great ones pull off that sort of thing and this was only his first big game away from home.
Next time you get the opportunity to see a replay, just compare the difference between his moves when he was under pressure for the frst 3 quarters... much like anyone in that situation, compared to the last 4 minutes of the game when he did get the time and protection he didn't get before. He looked more like Joe Montana than a rookie QB that doesn't have his footwork down or the technique to drop back in the pocket and throws off the wrong foot.
USC's problematical defense (?) wasn't even near the heart of the issue. Dare say without it USC wouldn't have gone into the half tied 10-10. Their OL was beat for 56 minutes and when that happens, fuck tempo, fuck pocket presence, fuck QB rating, fuck everything. It wasn't Barkley's fault.
However I think the silver lining in this is a good lesson for USC's OL. I would have said that this game was their way of the oldsters hazing the new boy if I didn't know better.
I know what needs to be done to defeat the kind of defense OSU was throwing at the Trojans. Barkley and his receivers need to work on their timing routes more so anyone that stacks the box will come under attack from all angles with quick hitting passes -- to move the ball that way instead of using almost exclusively a variety of rushing plays. More WC offense. That should shake up linebackers plenty. If Joe Montana did it, so can Matt Barkley.
