Maybe all of those reports about the death of Matt Barkley‘s chance at the Southern Cal starting job were greatly exaggerated?
Four days after his worst performance of summer camp, the true freshman came back with what the Orange County Register described as one of his best.
Barkley completed all but one pass in the morning seven-on-seven drills, then marched down the field in a two-minute drill in the afternoon session.
All of that left head coach Pete Carroll impressed.
“He was in command. I was chuckling,” Carroll said.
“He was reminding guys about their routes, the protections, getting guys lined up. He played like a normal quarterback out there today who’s familiar with the system. It was a very good sign. He really had to be demonstrative in his communications, and he handled it very well.”
On Monday, Barkley struggled mightily during a scrimmage, completing 5 of 19 passes for 105 yards.
Perhaps more importantly for the Trojans, especially if Barkley keeps the starting job when Aaron Corp returns from injury, is the lessons learned by the freshman following that dismal performance.
“It was a good lesson for him, and I am glad that it happened now. He grew from it,” quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates said.
