Matt Barkley Questions USC Offense (Again)

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Matt Barkley spoke to Yahoo Sports and had this to say about leadership:

“You put faith in your coaches, but when you see trends, things not happening the right way, and when the team rests on your shoulders, it’s almost like you have to step up. You can’t just let these things go by and watch them disintegrate in front of you. You’ve got to put the glue in somewhere. Looking back, I wish I’d been more forceful.”

And on USC’s offense:

“Kiff kind of suited the play-calling toward Marqise. It was rough at times, because defenses kinda knew what was coming. It was sort of predictive. Robert Woods is a great player. . . . You want to be respectful of your coaches, because they are your elders, but when it falls on your shoulders, you probably should get involved.”

38 thoughts on “Matt Barkley Questions USC Offense (Again)”

    • He says what all the know-it-alls have been saying all season long and now he’s a B? Scott trolled this article as an “I told you so” not as anything informative. How awesome are you?–badmouthing a 22 year-old kid for possessing loyalty and learning to be more assertive albeit a bit too late.

      He will do fine in the NFL. People seem to forget how low some players fall in the draft and yet, somehow, are still successful. Barkley’s prove-them-wrong attitude is a powerful motivator.

      I know several players who are talented enough to play professional, but because of attitude or work ethic do not make it. I believe the NFL no longer discounts those aspects of an athlete like it has in the past.

      • MB is a spoiled brat. Daddy sent him to MD because CDM didn’t have as good of a football program. Same for the grandstand “volunteer” trips to build his kissy kissy reputation. I’ll bet Kiff would like to take that Christmas ornament and stick it up MB’s @$$! He’s an ungrateful piece of crap.

        • Barkley did his part in coming back for season 4 and he did his best, not perfect, but his best! Coach Kiffen, remember him, the million dollar coach? He fumbled the ball and he fumbled it royally! Oh, by the way Joe Blow you got a dirty mouth.

  2. WOW!!! is that how it’s done Pious Passer???

    throw everyone under the bus??

    the team disintegrated, the coaches are idiiots, but hey, they are “The Elders”!!!!

    your not in church anymore, alter-boy!!! did “The Elders” stop you from EVER leading a 4th Qtr comeback??

    GM’s seeing this interview probably drop Pious down to 5th round!!!

    Oh, MERCY NURSE!!!!!

    • Your comments are repetitive is your mentor’s!

      Will we be seeing a new blog site soon? “Outside USC by Charles Bucket”

      I’d read it. =)

  3. “Kiff kind of suited the play-calling toward Marqise,” Barkley says. “It was rough at times, because defenses kinda knew what was coming. It was sort of predictive. Robert Woods is a great player. … You want to be respectful of your coaches, because they are your elders, but when it falls on your shoulders, you probably should get involved.”

    Did any of you watch Barkley on Gruden’s QB show on ESPN? Barkley admits that he tended to make bad decisions that weren’t necessarily the fault of the play call.

    Gruden: “Who’s the primary receiver on this play?”
    MB: “The fullback.”
    Gruden: “Who’s open?”
    MB: “The fullback.”
    Gruden: “That’s right. It’s 4th down and you could’ve had a new set of downs.”

    Not the exact words in the interview, but you get the idea. This is the time of year where too much thinking goes on and too much is made of quotes.

    • Except for the fact that we all saw how well the FB caught the ball last year. We are a few years removed from Havili, Kirtman, and Hancock. Instead we now have chosen to all but erase the FB and the TE from our offense.

      • Unlike, the FB position, the TE position has talent.

        It’s disappointing that Kiffin doesn’t value the FB position. So much for the old “student body right” play.

    • Please consider the same questions I posed to TrojanFan:

      Has Lane Kiffin ever stated that he targeted Lee too often? Has he ever explicitly stated that too many of his calls were too predictable to the defense?

      As you suggest, Matt’s play, while pretty good overall, fell short at some important moments.

      IMHO, Kiffin’s play-calling fell short more frequently, and at equally important moments. A number of sources who watched USC game tape have made the same observation. Defenses were not kept off-balance, by running to a variety of gaps, attempting to pass to a wider array of targets, and making more use of screens, roll-outs, no-huddle, and other strategies.

      I don’t doubt that Matt had some contrary opinions about play-calling during the season, or that he wasn’t as assertive as he had earned the right to be (he voluntarily came back in 2012, right?). I would guess that he does regret being somewhat too compliant.

      If I were Matt, I would say less right now, out of my own self-interest. This won’t raise his draft position.

      For probably the first time in many years, Matt’s ego is getting dented, by NFL scouts and draft observers. In the long run, it will help him. In the short run, it doesn’t feel good at all, I’m sure. That may account for his approach to this interview. All in all, Matt’s a good person who will work to overcome challenges. Even the hyper-critical Scott Wolf said that.

      • I’d agree Matt needs to just take the safe/filtered route that has worked throughout his stay at USC.

        As far as the effect his comments will have leading into draft day, NFL scouts aren’t idiots. I doubt what he says in the upcoming days will change where a team has him on their board. They know playcalling and scheme could’ve helped Matt tremendously, so Matt didn’t need to go into details. USC has always benefited players from running a “pro style” offense and defense where the players are credited with the teams success — unlike Oregon where many good players were overlooked because of their system (i.e. – LaMichael James, Daron Thomas)

        In the end, I’m confident a staff that still values a pocket passer will see his potential and realize he didn’t have Reggie Bush, Lendale White, and an Oline with 4 high draft picks.

        If they passed on him, it will be because they wanted a mobile QB, a stronger armed guy, or they were worried about his shoulder. I doubt anyone will question his decision making.

  4. Nothing personifies the Fall of Troy better than the career of Matt Barkley… A career that started so bright and ended by getting absolutely crushed on a blindside from a Bruin.

    The program sure is a looooong way from that 4th quarter comeback against an overrated Ohio St. team… Pete Carroll is a genius! He knew!

  5. Hey wolfman, give it a rest. The 2012 season is over and Barkley doesn’t play football at USC anymore. The horse is DEAD!

    • Has Lane Kiffin ever stated that he targeted Lee too often? Has he ever explicitly stated that too many of his calls were too predictable to the defense?

  6. Barkley’s 1 plus year plan went sideways the 3rd game against Stanford “Oh no! Now I won’t get my ‘glamor moment’ as the sainted one…if this keeps up I’ll have to step back from any ownership of the season. Hmmm best to get an injury before I face the Irish that way if I tank against U Clowns Lost Again it can’t be put on me that we lost. Comew to think of it the same is a good deal for any bowl game.

    Heisman – shiesman – who cares?

    Combine – shombine – I’ll shown them on my terms.

    Up yours Gruden

  7. Let’s change the verbage here a little. “You damn well knew Kiffin was preferring to throw to Lee every chance. And you damn well knew the other side knew it too as well as everyone sitting there watching the game too. With the exception of throwing passes to the fullback at the goal-line, I’d saythat just about makes it damn unanimous.

  8. Have to agree 100% with Matt. I never understood the snub on a great Trojan like Robert Woods, who played with such passion for us in 2011. It’s sad that so many rah rahs reflexively defend Kiffin even when his former players admit the obvious.

    • I also share your amazement as to what Kiffin was thinking when he gameplanned. With all the talent at his fingertips and he just eliminated the mystery to the opponent by minimizing what running game potential there was to where the O-line had no confidence and what the other WRs thought just being decoys most of the game. Its like shooting yourself in the foot. MB is going to remember this past season with “what-ifs” for the rest of his life. Can you blame him?

    • Maybe he was saying that the calls weren’t changing and adjusting to the defense, which would have been the proper use of that term. Or maybe he’s going to be making millions throwing a rubber ball, not public speaking.

      • no, what he was saying is that the plays were predictable. Not predictive. And he stayed all 4 years plus a little extra. LOL.

        • It can be both based on context. For example, everything you’ve said about next year is very predictive. The viewer’s inability to judge ambiguous comments is not necessarily indicative of a communicative failure if that was it’s initial purpose.

          • LOL. Tell me how his quote can be read that way. “We did the same thing. It was predictive”. Predictive of what? Face it, Barfly is CFB’s version of Ryan Lochte.

          • “[…]the defenses knew what was coming. It [the defense] was sort of predictive.”

            Does that make it easier for you?

    • Maybe he was saying that the calls weren’t changing and adjusting to the defense, which would have been the proper use of that term. Or maybe he’s going to be making millions throwing a rubber ball, not public speaking.

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