No Corp Situation

I for one am interested in watching Mitch play after a full week of practice

I second that. Give Mustain a chance. He's a senior who's earned his dues, and aside from not having been given enough reps, I believe playing Mustain won't be a step down from Barkley. I feel Barkeley is too "mechanical" and needs too much time to set up with his feet. Granted, he is a sophomore, but I have a sneaking suspicion his ceiling isn't as high as many would think. I would love to see Mustain have the reins of the offense for a couple of weeks. His mechanics seem more fluid and his reads can't be any worse than Barkley's. I know many people defend Barkley to no end, but there is a reason that Kiffin uses such a conservative passing attack. Barkeley just can't seem to throw to moving targets accurately and consistently. I keep reminding myself he's a sophomore, but he's has more than 20 starts already and can't seem to hit open downfield receivers or receivers on crossing routes. You can only get so far against opposing defenses on 2-yard sideline routes without the threat of vertical game.

I've never been super high on Mustain. I was always fighting for Sanchez to have his opportunity, even when it seemed like only the departed El Cap and I were doing so - but I'd love to see what Mustain can do at this point. It might be a case of be careful what you wish for, but during the second quarter of the Oregon State game, I was hoping Kiffin would put Mustain in because Barkley was giving us a big fat nothing out there. Of course, Mustain sucked as much as Barkley, but I'll chalk that up to rust and to unfavorable conditions.

I hope (and think) that Mustain will come out and do quite well. Although I think that one of his biggest strengths (his mobility) will be mitigated by the fact that there's no one behind him on the depth chart now that Barkley's ankle is jacked, I think he can do a good job out there. And since he has a total of two games left in his collegiate career to prove that he can play at the next level, I'm hoping he does just that.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mustain start as well.

I'm no football expert, but I could never understand why he wasn't given more of a chance at USC. He looked like a stud when we played at Arkansas to start the 2006 season, and he played remarkably well that year.

It was always Pete Carroll's philosophy with quarterbacks to go with experience and make the young guys wait until they were more seasoned. He said numerous times during Monday Morning Quarterback sessions that in effect he was opposed to putting young guys on the field because you risked exposing them to psychological damage if they played poorly in that vulnerable state.

All that went out the window with Barkley for some reason. Sanchez wasn't given that kind of the benefit of the doubt. He was made to wait behind Booty. Was Barkley really that more advanced than Sanchez?

I would love to know what changed with Coach Carroll last year - including why there was such a double standard for McKnight.

Following the model of past success would have suggested that Mustain or Corp should have been starting since the beginning of 2009, and Barkley would begin to start in 2011. I can't help but wonder if Barkeley's progress has been hurt by being anointed.
The contrast between Sanchez's reaction at Oregon State in 2008 and Barkley's laizze faire attitude on the sideline last week was striking, as someone else pointed out.

Over the winter we needed a guy to show leadership and rally the troops. Barkeley did that and he should be respected for it. However, it seems like he's being given too much of a free pass on the field.