USC and Michigan: A Tale of Two QBs, A Tale of Two Programs

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They were both powerhouses in their respective conferences. They last met in the 2007 Rose Bowl. USC beat Michigan 32-18.

Lloyd Carr would coach the Wolverines one more season, winning the Capital One Bowl, 41-35 over the former national champion, Florida.

Carr then turned the reins over Rich Rodriguez, the former West Virginia head coach. Rodgriguez took over a team that had been on the decline for several years, playing in the shadows of Ohio State.

But under Rodgriguez, who instituted a new offensive scheme, the bottom quickly dropped out as Michigan wound up 2008 with a 3-9 record, 2-6 in the Big Ten.

USC, on the other hand, had not finished any lower than fourth place in the BCS polls for seven consecutive years. They had won at least eleven games in seven consecutive years and were Pac-10 champions for seven consecutive years.

This year, both Rodriguez at Michigan and Pete Carroll at USC handed their offenses over to true freshmen quarterbacks.

The season started off on a high note as the Wolverines won three straight non-conference matchups with true freshman Tate Forcier at the helm, including a last second 38-34 victory over Notre Dame. 

Michigan then opened its Big Ten season with a closely-fought 36-33 win over Indiana. But since then they have suffered six straight conference losses and sit at the bottom of the Big Ten in danger of not making a post-season bowl game.

USC is not in danger of missing a bowl game. However, their string of sevens has abruptly ended and with it their string of BCS Bowl appearances.  

Like Michigan, USC began the season with a true freshman, Matt Barkley, under center and won its first two non-conference games including an 18-15 win over Ohio State in Columbus.

But Barkley suffered a bruised shoulder and missed the next game, a 16-13 defeat at the hands of the rebuilding Washington Huskies.

After Barkley’s return, the offense had strong showings against Cal, Notre  Dame and Oregon State.  But the defense began to show trouble signs barely holding off the Irish and the Beavers.

Then the bottom fell out as the offense sputtered and the defense completely caved in at Eugene in a 47-20 rout by the Oregon Ducks.

The following week in Tempe, the offense did not run one play in the Arizona State red zone the entire game, which the USC defense won 14-9.

Today has to be considered one of the worst losses in USC history, especially before a home crowd at the Coliseum. The true freshman quarterback that Pete Carroll and USC had pinned their hopes on threw three interceptions as the Stanford Cardinal spoiled the Trojans homecoming 55-21.

It was the worst home loss since 1966, a 51-0 loss to Notre Dame and the most points ever allowed by the Trojans. The 111 points the Trojans have allowed in three games is also the most over three games in the school’s history.

For Barkley, who was totally outplayed by red-shirt freshman Andrew Luck, the game represented a new low in his young career.

"This isn't what we grew up watching," Barkley said. "I'm not used to this...I don't know what to think right now."

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