The Great Quarterback Debate

Against Oregon, Mark Sanchez looked like a quarterback starting just the third game of his career. He was.

The biggest crowd in Autzen history, 59,277 strong, seemed to shake him -- especially early on. It was clear that 80,000 in South Bend had not fully prepared him, despite his claims to the contrary.

Two interceptions and the first loss of his career are not stats he's proud to come home with.

Despite the downside, Sanchez was fun to watch. He scrambled. He made a shovel pass. He led a high-flying late touchdown drive, and almost did it twice. He was the anti-Booty.

And what about John David Booty? When polled this week, 54% of you said he should have started the game against Oregon. Pete Carroll disagreed, citing concerns with Booty's broken finger and resulting lack of touch on the ball.

This week, it seems likely that even more of you will want Booty back. It also seems likely that Carroll will agree this time.

Controversy is here for the foreseeable future. If Booty returns to the helm, people won't be satisfied unless he shows the same spirit and leadership that Sanchez has provided for the past three weeks. Booty is a good quarterback, but he's not a chameleon. He can't change his personality.

If Sanchez remains USC's signal caller, Booty will be breathing down his neck on every play. With each false step, the former Heisman candidate will be a more attractive choice to come in off the bench. Even if Sanchez performs well, there will be questions over how a senior team captain can lose his starting job due to an injury.

Don't think it'll end after bowl season.

Next year, Booty will graduate and leave USC with two outstanding options for quarterback, plus a dark-horse candidate. Sanchez, obviously, will return with more experience and proven leadership potential. He may have rough edges now, but he'll look a lot more polished in nine months.

Mitch Mustain is a name you haven't heard this season and won't -- unless you follow what happens in practice. You may, however, remember him from last year. As a true freshman, he went 8-0 as the starter for Arkansas. He earned the starting job thanks to USC. When the Trojans were decimating the Razorbacks in the first game of the season, Mustain was put in off the bench and led a successful drive against USC. He would go on to lead his team over 2nd-ranked Auburn and eventually take Arkansas to 11th in the polls.

After eight games, things got a little weird. Mustain was benched due to a lack of "experience." When the season ended, there was an imbroglio involving coaches, administration and parents at the University of Arkansas. Mustain decided to transfer to USC for greener pastures (or perhaps calmer seas). Ineligible to play a single down in a game this season, he has led the Trojans scout team. Day in and day out, he mimics the quarterbacks and plays that USC will face the following Saturday. Day in and day out, he demonstrates the talent that made him undefeated against the SEC and previously earned him national high school player of the year honors.

So Sanchez isn't exactly a lock.

With these two impressive resumes, Aaron Corp is likely to be the third-sting quarterback. A top recruit in last year's class, Corp is an extremely mobile kid. Emphasis on the word "kid." Though he's got height (a fan site lists him at 9'4", but we're pretty sure that's a few feet off), he doesn't have size -- yet. His lanky frame looks downright fragile out on the practice field.

Comments

[cardinal and fool's gold]

Oregon would have won the game no matter who the USC QB was.
This was a team loss. And USC has the meat of the schedule still ahead.
Tell me again about that "quality road win" at Nebraska. Does USC have someone other than Booty or Sanchez who can play QB? Obvious that the
Oregon players do not read the Los Angeles Times sports section.
It's a coin toss: Holiday Bowl or the Sun Bowl. Do they still have the
Weed-Eater Bowl?

[gerrrg]

I miss Chow.

His ability to teach QBs is legendary, his ability to tweak an offense around his players was remarkable. I like Sark, but the Master still wins out against the Apprentice.

I look at Booty, and I think that Booty should have improved over last year, but didn't. I think this is because Chow wasn't around. Sark is good, but nothing like Chow. Chow knew how to attack a weak offense like Oregon's.

[PK-IN-THE-MESA]

Yah sark has a way's to go as a o cortinater but turnovers and dumb pentdalties cost them the game. this is not a team kobe has to go his cancer is spredding accross la.

[Allen]

Mitch Mustain will be USC's savior. Booty couldn't do it and Sanchez sure doesn't have it in him to be a winner. Sanchez is slow, inaccurate, throws interceptions constantly, fumbles and many incomplete passes.

Word from practice these past few months is that Mustain is the real deal. He puts the first team defense in its place each day and it's no secret that if he were eligible to play this season, he would have been starting over Sanchez.

Mustain will win the battle for the starting quarterback job in the spring over Sanchez and it won't even be close. Go to practice and see for yourself. Ask the players and hear for yourself.

It's too bad because we were in a great position to win another national championship this year, or at least play in the BCS game. Then everything went downhill due to weak QBs who weren't up to the standards of our previous two starters, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

Mustain is our savior and our only hope. Booty and Sanchez had their chances and they showed their deficiencies. This year is over, so time to start looking ahead to 2008. It will be Mustain time. He's the real deal.

[thomas]

a bad loss - fourth and one and they don't convert after the turnover in the first minute of the game was a sign. I still think they should have kicked a field goal. The fourth and one is for the Leinat, Bush team, not this one. Get the points and move on....

[Sandy]

The team is definitely not living up to expectations especially after the loss to Stanford. As long as the Trojans destroy ucla he season wont be a total loss. A loss to them would make the season a total loss. Hang on for the last few games of the year and bring on Mustain next year!

[buz algood]

One more loss and the bandwagon jumpers will start to clear out along with the ticket price inflation. I miss the up and coming underdog Trojans and a 3/4 filled Coliseum free of annoying posers.

[GK]

What was up with the 2 offensive face masks penalties? I've never even seen 1 before! 2 in one game? Sounds fishy to me! The second one put us in a deep hole starting the last drive. BS!

Booty should have been in there after the half.

[Richard Harris]

Failure to score on the lst series, the indsidious personal foul by 66 well after the play, the Havili fumble, the two unheard of offensive face masks(same guy?), the face mask on Dixon, the holding on the Knight run, we simply self destructed. What is remarkable is that we ended up outgaining them and still could have scored to tie on the last series!

[cardinal and fool's gold]

What is fishy about two offensive USC face mask penalities?
We are talking about the south-central crowd here--just hard to conseal knives and guns in your hip pads. Resort to the next best thing.

[Dennis]

Time to start the Mustain Heisman campaign. Sanchez is out of his league at the college level, just plain awful, and Booty will never be one of the greats.

Mustain is the only answer. He is amazing. 8-0 as a true freshman starter in the SEC and the most highly decorated football player ever to enroll at USC...and that's saying a LOT!

Fight on, Mitch!

[cardinal and fool's gold]

Sanchez? Booty? The Mexican-American War continues (stay tuned).

[Kenneth]

To "Cardinal and Fool's Gold": I wouldn't make too much fun of USC players from South Central, since I imagine, unlike you, that they can spell "conceal" correctly. Gosh, you're wowing us all with your wit and intelligence.

[SoBayBruin]

Kenneth,

Don't be so hard on Cardinal and Fool's Gold, He's probably a LAUSD product.

[cardinal and fool's gold]

My fault; I just had a USC grad for an instructor.
But then, I haven't met O. J. Simpson, either.

[PK-IN-THE-MESA]

Why are all you westwoody grads always bringing the race card into play, I mean my weird relative went to bruin H.S. and he ended up working for the phone co. So stick it C&FG and SB briun.

[PK-IN-THE-MESA]

well card and f gold your the same a$$ as 24-23 from cnn, got ya you probably love Kobe also, well at least the trojans have national championships in football.

[cardinal and fool's gold]

Where is the race card? Maybe the killer card.
Have you made your Motel 6 reservations for
New Year's Eve in El Paso, yet. Tickets are going close.
Oregon has confirmed that Southern Cal is another
directional school; maybe their opponent will be
Western Carolina. Southern Cal vs. Western Carolina.
Talk about a school changing directions.

[E.Soto]

Allen, reason Mustain was 8-0 as a freshman is that he had McFadden in the backfield and a line that could block. It doesnt matter if Booty, Sanchez, or Mustain is playing QB, the truth of the matter is that our O will continue to be mediocre until we re-establish a running game. Palmer had Fargas, who I love to watch running with the football. Talk about up the field. White and Bush took loads of pressure off Leinart. We need to start dominating at the line of scrimmage. Look at the top of the BCS standings. All those teams can run the football. We try, at times succeeding, only to abondon it as the games progress.

[fernando barba]

Hello,

I am a USC alumni, and I am sick to my stomach
watching USC's offense make mistake after mistake. Not
executing the plays is one issue, penalties is
another, but the most important issue that needs to be
address before the start of next season (this season
is officially over) is the firing of Steve Sarkisian.

This offensive coordinator fails to understand that
running the football contains and controls the tempo
of the game. You also wear the opponents defense,
opening up all the doors to all of your weapons-both
receiving and running.

After watching the Ducks defeat USC, I realize that
the play calling was just hideous and idiotic, and it
has been since the beginning of the year. For example,
2 and 1 and you throw the ball, and it is intercepted
by the oppposition. This play in itself set up Mark
Sanchez for failure, the play should have a been a
running play up the middle, or a qb sneak up the
middle. It does not taka genious to call this play,
after all, Oregon's defense proved throughout the game
that they could not stop the run. For the record,
Chauncy Washington has no business playing for SC,
much less being the starting running back. This guy
will never make it to the NFL and should not get
anymore playing time this year.

The game plan should have been pound the football,
with Stefon and Joe, over and over and over again.
Instead, they decided to put all of the weight on an
unproven qb with unproven receivers. "Avoid your
weaknesses and Abuse your strength." SC's strenths are
#4 and #13. Pete should fire Sarkisian, if he does
not, then he will begin to be part of the problem and
Sarkisian will drag Pete and SC down. When you recruit
5 star athletes by all means utilize them. Five star
running backs were not meant to look pretty on the
sidelines, they were meant to pound the shit out of
the opposition and bring you victory parades. Can you
emphasize in one of your articles this point--Fire
Sarkisian!!!!!

Sincerely,

Fernando Barba
Class of 2001

[robert thompson]

ditto to fernando, I do not understand some of the play calling, end around with one yard to go, using a fullback with bad hands on your own ten yard line. using a tight end that has not caught a pass all year. coaching has a lot to do with "USC" recent losses,

[SadJoeTrojan]

Norm Chow built up the SC offense 3 years ago. He mentored QB to be leaders and refined their skills. Also, he was able to exploit SC's strengths and other team's weaknesses. After his departure, the young SC offensive coaches were able to live off the residuals. Unfortunately, the team has gotten progressively worse. Kiffen was at least smart enough to jump ship before he was uncovered. Poor Sark has to show that the emperor has no clothes.

[USC Annenberg COMM 2003]

The debate is over. Booty is back and Sanchez has been permanently benched. He will always say that he started three games at USC, then failed miserably against the one real team he played against -- Oregon.

Booty is back for the rest of the year and Mustain will start next year. Sanchez was simply out of his depth at the college level and showed no evidence that he could beat out a healthy Booty.

We have to somehow salvage this season, maybe winning out and going to a decent bowl game.

Next year will be different with Mitch Mustain as the starting quarterback. He's the real deal.

Fight on!

[Gary Rodriquez]

Mr. Barba is absolutely correct. 90% of the drivel on this blog is following lockstep with the ESPN/FSN talking heads in characterizing this as a quarterback issue. USC's recent failures have little to do with quarterback issues. And especially, the Oregon loss was not Mark Sanchez's failure. He is a fine football player who'll do great things as Trojan. The recent problems are all about play calling & coaching.
Try & recall the end of the Stanford game. USC burned its final timeout trying to ice the Stanford QB, when USC should've assumed the incredible Stanford offense (of that night) would score. Trojan coaches should've saved that timeout for their own survival in the ensuing final possession. Recall the Texas game ending; no receivers, one lone RB. It was obivous USC was going to run Lendale White up the middle. They gave the play away. The thinking was, "to hell with the opponent, we'll do what we want". These are 2 examples of what I painfully call "Trojan football arrogance". In the past, Uncle Pete has repeatedly shown a disregard for the opponents' abilities, and relied on his own teams' superior strength. I'm hoping he'll learn & adjust midway through his college career, just as he so expertly does midway through a game.