2009 USC Football: Ten Things To Watch

For most of the 2000s, USC football has been a dominating force, some would even call it a dynasty. Agree or disagree, it is hard to argue the validity of how great USC football has been and continues to be year in and year out. Pete Carroll has mixed in his boyish enthusiasm with his laid back California attitude to build one of the best college football programs in America.

While these past few seasons have been very successful for the Trojans, many critics think it is championship or bust every year. However, 2009 is a new season for SC that brings us a lot of new faces and names. Predictions for this USC team have varied drastically; I have heard from some that they may win it all, others have said that this is the year USC finally loses its top spot in the Pac 10 and may finish outside of the top 10 nationally for the first time in nearly a decade.

The season is just around the corner and with all of the questions surrounding this year's USC team, there are certainly some positive and negative things to watch for.

Five Negatives

1. The quarterback situation: There is no denying that the biggest question hoovering over this years Trojan team is their lack of experience at the quarterback position. First we have Aaron Corp. Corp is a highly-talented and tremendously gifted athlete, but he has very little game time experience.

This lack of experience may show up in loud and difficult environments like Ohio State's Horse Shoe. How will he handle possible audible situations at the line of scrimmage? How will he handle a consistent pass rush if the offensive line is having trouble communicating?

If Corp doesn't get the starting nod, then it looks like at this point that true freshman Matt Barkley may get it. He is probably the highest rated quarterback recruit in USC history, and due to his high expectations, people should realize he may not be the savior right away. He has an incredible arm that many are comparing to Carson Palmer's, yet he has no NCAA experience and rarely ever do true freshman quarterbacks succeed.

Lastly we have Mitch Mustain. Mustain is the highly rated transfer from Arkansas who came to USC because of their passing playbook... much to his dismay he has hardly seen the field. He has a great, accurate arm but the problem for him is his lack of adjustment to USC's pro style offense. He comes from a spread offense, even in high school, where he hardly ever had to drop back and read coverages across the field. Mustain has been showing some promise as of late but something tells me Carroll doesn't trust him just yet.

Overall, USC has plenty of talent at the quarterback position, it is just the matters of maturity and development that may hinder this season's team. Yesterday Carroll announced Matt Barkley as the starter. I have questions, but knowing that the USC staff is this impressed with a freshman makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the idea.

2. The Defensive Line:

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?