Matt Barkley Falters as #2 USC Loses to Stanford

When Matt Barkley came back to USC, he said he had unfinished business. A lot of people speculated that part of that business was finally defeating the Stanford Cardinal, who Barkley never defeated as a starting quarterback.

Well… the business is still unfinished as Barkley and his Trojans fell to Stanford in a thriller Saturday night.

To his credit, Barkley didn’t look horrible and the loss of course doesn’t rest squarely on his shoulders. USC’s defense couldn’t get Stephan Taylor off the field when it mattered, and it’s offensive line could not create a clean pocket for Barkley to work in the second half.

Barkley had his moments, such as the clutch fourth down sideline throw to Marquise Lee but for the most part he was disrupted and relied on quick screen passes.

Going forward I think Barkley will fall behind someone in the quarterback rankings but who? Tyler Wilson is beat up and didn’t even play and Logan Thomas isn’t even on the pro radar right now with his string of bad games.

It’s a long way from the 2013 draft. It will be very telling to see how Matt Barkley rebounds from this loss.