Where Have You Gone, Mitch Mustain

The decision over whether Pete Carroll should start true freshman Matt Barkley or redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp at quarterback was rendered yesterday when Carroll announced that Matt Barkley had won the competition.

Opinions about whether this was the right move or not fall on both sides of the spectrum.

However, I wanted to look at this from another perspective:

Where the hell is Mitch Mustain in all of this?

You remember Mitch Mustain, right?

• One of the most highly touted quarterback recruits ever out of Springdale, Arkansas
• Houston Nutt wanted Mustain (and teammate Damian Williams) so badly that he hired their high school coach, Gus Mahlzahn, to be his offensive coordinator.
• Mustain went 8-0 as a starter (in the SEC, mind you) in 2006. Okay, so he was in the same backfield as Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Petyon Hillis.
• Nutt went with Casey Dick as his starting quarterback for the Tennessee game (and subsequently for the rest of the season), angering some of his backers (including Mustain's parents).
• After the season, Mustain and Williams transferred to USC. Mahlzahn went to Tulsa as offensive coordinator and has recently returned to the SEC West in the same role at Auburn.

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Mustain arrived at USC in 2007 (his redshirt season). The 2009 season is set to kick off in less than a week.

Having been in the system for two seasons prior, shouldn't Mustain have had the inside track on the starting spot? Or if nothing else, have been neck and neck with Aaron Corp (who also arrived in 2007)?

Maybe this can be a case for not going overboard with recruiting rankings and potential.

Or is it just that USC was a bad fit?

Why No Big Ten Love

It's funny that I wrote a piece talking about four FBS conferences that I thought were searching for respect on a national level, and most of the comments address one conference that I didn't discuss:

The somewhat lamentable Big Ten.

Was it oversight on my part?

Nope.

I think the Big Ten gets a proper amount of respect given the current state of the conference:

1. Wisconsin is trending down
2. Michigan hit rock bottom last season and has to prove that they are on the road back
3. Michigan State lost some senior leadership and needs to prove that last year was not a fluke
4. Ditto Northwestern
5. Illinois has some work to do, although Juice Williams and Rejus Benn have the potential to be a dynamic pitch-and-catch duo.
6. Purdue and Indiana are afterthoughts at this point
7. I personally don't trust Minnesota and Iowa to be consistent at this point

Which leaves us with Ohio State and Penn State.

The lasting image for Penn State right now is Mark Sanchez and the Trojans running roughshod over the Nittany Lions. Couple that with one of the weakest non-conference schedules I've ever seen, and I feel like the Penn State season basically comes down to the Ohio State game.

Ohio State's task is tougher: They have to beat USC. No excuses. The game is in the Horseshoe, and USC's quarterback (if it's Matt Barkley or Aaron Corp) will be starting their first road game ever.

That is the game that can help raise the Big Ten's image; it rests on the backs of the Buckeyes to bring honor to the clan.

Update 8/28/09: ESPN.com's Pat Forde examines the Big Ten's respect issue.