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• USC football: Matt Barkley named Pac-12 offensive player of week
• USC Trojans Football: Matt Barkley The Maestro In Upset Of Oregon
• Matt Barkley Heisman campaign begins
• USC huge win at Oregon
• Stopping RB Polk is biggest key
• USC's Matt Barkley finds love and perspective in Nigeria
• Record-game For Barkley; Woods and Lee Shine in 48-41 Win Over Arizona
• USC Football Returns Home To Host Arizona
• Bank Of The West Weekly Football Honors
• FB | Jones still out with injury, to miss game Saturday against Southern California
• Trojans in need of better effort
• Scoggins: For Kiffin, misery doesn't love company
• USC Football Notebook: Barkley, Woods on same page in scrimmage
• USC's Matt Barkley named to 2011 Manning Award watch list
• USC FOOTBALL NOTES: Barkley shaky in first scrimmage
• Pio Vatuvei Verbals To USC Trojans Football
• USC's Matt Barkley, 5 other Pac-12 players named to 2011 Walter Camp watch list
• Southern California Trojans football
• USC Trojans Football: The Nickell Robey Story
• USC football: Issues come to the fore in the fourth
• Trojans release new numbers fot the fall roster
• No changes on the horizon for USC's football uniforms
• USC football: Nick Perry has a big number in mind
• OT Smith helps keep first-round grade at USC pro day
• Injuries will impact USC practice
• USC linemen the next Cam Newton?
• USC hires Nebraska's Gilmore as WRs coach
• USC Trojans redshirt freshman WR Kyle Prater breaks foot
• Eight USC Trojans invited to 2011 NFL Combine
• USC's Johnson, O'Dowd, Wright to take part in 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl
• Amir Carlisle and Anthony Sarao Choose USC
• USC Recruiting | Trojans eyeing McKeesport DL recruit Delvon Simmons
• USC football: Is Lane Kiffin too unemotional?
• USC signs two more JC gridders
• Football recruiting: Losing Aaron Douglas hurts
• USC Football Recruiting: One More Verbal and Closing the Book on a Busy Weekend
• USC football: Breaking down Matt Barkley’s season
• USC seniors deserve a better ending
• USC Football Hosts Notre Dame In Famed Intersectional Rivalry
• USC Football: Was the Arizona Game a Sign of a Modified Spread in 2011?
• Barkley named semifinalist for O’Brien Award
• USC FOOTBALL NOTES: Passing comment serves as motivation
• Report card: Grading the Trojans (vs. Stanford)
• USC Football | Sarkisian shows he has transitioned from student to master
• Jupiter and Havili named USC Credit Union Student Athletes of the Week
• USC Football: Robert Woods' 97-yard kickoff touchdown return
• USC's Tyler goes from forgotten to first
• USC leans on Matt Barkley's leadership
• Mater Dei WR Blackwell among best in California
• USC Football Success Factors in 2010 And Beyond
• Laying the Foundation: USC Football Recruiting, 2011
• Joe McKnight doesn't mind the comparisons to New Orleans Saints' Reggie Bush
• USC Trojans to face Boston College Eagles in Emerald Bowl
• Corp gets the nod in Saturday's game against Washington
• Colts sign rookies Austin Collie (WR, BYU) and Fili Moala
• The Sideline Report: '09 College Football Preview
• USC 101: History of the Song Girl
• USC football: The best DBs, OLs in the nation?
• USC football: 5 most indispensable Trojans
• Ryans set to help Cushing
• USC football: 10 things we learned in spring (No. 4)
• UCS's Pete Carroll to Author "Win Forever" Book
• Trojans' quarterback Barkley getting into a groove
• Trojans' defense is quickly making strides
• 2009 NFL Draft Preview: Clay Matthews
• Lions coach Jim Schwartz will keep open mind at draft
• Waiting game finally over for Chiefs' Cassel
• Odd questions are the norm for prospects at the NFL combine
• Longevity runs in Matthews family
• Pythons kept at bay by brilliant Baxter
• SIGNING DAY 2009 : West Helena's Winston highlights Razorbacks' 2009 commitments
• USC's Sanchez among 12 Trojans invited to NFL combine
• Should He Have Stayed One More Season? Mark Sanchez Enters the NFL Draft!
• Carroll apologizes to Sanchez for demeanor
• Carl Smith And Mark Jackson Join USC Football Staff
• High School Football: Matt Barkley Leads White Team to Victory in Under Armour All-America Game
• Next Season Could Be A Test For Carroll, Trojans
• Trojans offensive line will have holes to fill
• Trojans' Moala will try not to cry
• Trojans' outlook: Up in BCS, down in Rose Bowl hopes
• USC blanks Arizona State, 28-0
• USC Seeks Upward Mobility
• QB Tuel takes aim at Centennial
• USC linebacker Cushing could be sidelined for Oregon State game
• Matt Barkley, Nation's Top HS Football Prospect, Opens Season on ESPN2

USC leans on Matt Barkley's leadership

 

Amid the swirling turmoil that has followed Lane Kiffin from the USC Trojans to the Oakland Raiders, to the Tennessee Volunteers and back again, a young quarterback has grown up and grown strong in his conviction that "everything happens for a reason."

That's what is keeping Matt Barkley focused and what gives Kiffin and the Trojans an optimism going into this season that, as these past months unfolded, didn't seem possible.

When Pete Carroll left abruptly in January, Barkley kept his team from panicking. Barkley, who was offered a scholarship by Kiffin as a 13-year-old, was the first to greet Kiffin when he arrived from his own stunned campus, offering a smile and a vote of confidence. And upon learning of the potentially devastating sanctions imposed on the program by the NCAA, Barkley rallied his teammates and found a way to keep the fight in "fight on," adopting an us-against-the-world mentality.

"The fact that we can still play," Barkley said about motivation, "the fact that we can still win and show the world that we're a team that wants to play football and wants to win. And that one institution can't tell us what our season is."

That Barkley happened to be the right man in the right place at the right time is not lost on Kiffin. He saw those qualities when Barkley was in ninth grade and offered him a scholarship on the spot, never knowing how much he would have to someday rely on his arm and his character.

"What he's gone through," Kiffin said, "at a school that has won seven straight conference championships. He's the starter and team goes 9-4, to go through that as a true freshman, then his coach leaves, then a new coach comes in and then sanctions hit and he's still in great shape.

"We are very fortunate to have him."

Barkley, who was voted a team captain, greeted Kiffin's assessment with a grin and a shrug.

"This is where I ended up," he said. "I was placed here for a reason, I just believe that. I'm just gonna deal with it."

No doubt he has had a few bad moments since Carroll left for the Seahawks last January. A lot of people have. But somewhere along the way Barkley chose to shape his view of all that was happening and turn it into something positive.

Two years ago the Barkleys spent Christmas in South Africa volunteering at an orphanage. When Matt went to USC, they figured family Christmas trips were over for a while because of bowl season. But as soon as the sanctions were handed out and bowls weren't an option, they began planning again. They're hoping to spend this Christmas at an orphanage in Nigeria. The Barkleys have said South Africa was the best Christmas they ever shared.

"Trips like these are more of a blessing for us than those we go to serve," Matt's father, Les, said recently, something to which Matt readily agrees.

Matt Barkley's leadership and faith have guided him since he was a child. Had there been a lesser man running his team, Kiffin knows he'd be in trouble right now trying to keep the Trojans together. What Barkley did not only kept players from jumping ship (although eight did transfer, mainly because they knew they could get more playing time somewhere else), but he instilled an even stronger pride in those who stayed.

His attitude has been contagious. Backup quarterback Mitch Mustain could have gone just about anywhere and started. So could wide receiver Ronald Johnson. Both wanted a USC degree and Johnson figures he'll prepare for the NFL combine with the time he would have otherwise spent preparing for a bowl game. Same with center Kris O'Dowd. And linebacker Chris Galippo. And tight end Jordan Cameron.

Kiffin has impressed upon his players that the reason they choose USC isn't for bowl games or even national championships; it's to get a degree and improve as a player for a chance to go to the next level.

"Most of our players are four- and five-star recruits," he said. "They've got bigger things in mind."

And that goes for Barkley, too, who as a sophomore didn't have the option of transferring without sitting out a season. He said he never considered it.

To be sure, Barkley and his teammates have kept the band together. Boosters thinking about dropping their donations have reconsidered. They, like the rest of the country, want to see what happens, whether this group of talented players will rise or fail in the face of adversity. There are many who would love nothing more than to see the latter.

Barkley will do his best to disappoint them.

 

More on sports.espn.go.com

 

MORE MATT BARKLEY NEWS

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Jan 30 2012 2:34PM GMT

Football recruiting: Morris may be a pleasant surprise for Tide
Montgomery Advertiser Jan 30 2012 2:34PM GMT Florida State. "You see Alec Morris here, he's serviceable. Alabama hasn't needed to have Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley or Matt Stafford out there to win. So field generals are good. Quarterbacking one of the premier programs for two seasons in

Football recruiting: Morris may be a pleasant surprise for Tide
Prattville Progress Jan 30 2012 12:20PM GMT Florida State. "You see Alec Morris here, he's serviceable. Alabama hasn't needed to have Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley or Matt Stafford out there to win. So field generals are good. Quarterbacking one of the premier programs for two seasons in

Local roundup: Disc golfers Criss, Hokum win open divisions at Felton Freeze
Santa Cruz Sentinel Jan 30 2012 10:59AM GMT the Intermediate flight, La Selva's Ryan Gonyea shot a 2-under 112 for the win, San Jose's Matt Barkley took second with 117 and Monterey's Sean Allen took third at 119. CYCLING The fourth race in the Surf City Cyclo-X series course was held Sunday at

Kiffin, Orgeron Keep USC on Track
DawgsBite.com Jan 30 2012 6:37AM GMT of Robert Woods and Marquise Lee among others, and some teams could lose some of their leaders like Matt Barkley. ?Getting or keeping those guys on campus while trimming the roster of non producers will help lessen the impact of the scholarship

Holler: RG3 holds the key
PackerReport.com Jan 29 2012 2:22PM GMT flat on their faces, the quarterback market is as hot as it has ever been. The decisions of Matt Barkley and Landry Jones, both of whom would have been first-rounders, to stay in school increased Griffin?s value. Unlike most aspects of life, where

Top recruits don't always work out for teams
Individual.com Jan 29 2012 9:28AM GMT Missouri, Gateway (Mo.): Academics forced him to JC for two years, Missouri backup for half of 2011. 5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC, Mater Dei (Calif.): Threw for Pac-12 record 39 TDs, early Heisman favorite for 2012. Class of 2008 1. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio

Mock draft begins with Luck, trade for Griffin
SI.com Jan 29 2012 7:58AM GMT read is that Tannehill is the most likely candidate. Washington's desperation at quarterback is obvious, and no Matt Barkley or Landry Jones means the Redskins might have to roll the dice on the former Aggie. Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina. The

Top recruits don't always work out for teams
Pittsburgh Tribune Review Jan 29 2012 7:23AM GMT Missouri, Gateway (Mo.): Academics forced him to JC for two years, Missouri backup for half of 2011. 5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC, Mater Dei (Calif.): Threw for Pac-12 record 39 TDs, early Heisman favorite for 2012. 1. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State,

Top recruits don't always work out for teams
Pittsburgh Tribune Review Jan 29 2012 7:23AM GMT Missouri, Gateway (Mo.): Academics forced him to JC for two years, Missouri backup for half of 2011. 5. Matt Barkley, QB, USC, Mater Dei (Calif.): Threw for Pac-12 record 39 TDs, early Heisman favorite for 2012. 1. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State,