USC Trojans: Matt Barkley Makes Strong Case for Heisman After UCLA Rout

Matt Barkley is really something special. 

He really proved this weekend why he deserves more consideration for the Heisman Trophy.

To say his performance against UCLA on Saturday night was remarkable is an extreme understatement. It was a performance unlike any other. 

Last night, Barkley threw six touchdowns and seven incompletions. It's not often when a quarterback almost throws more touchdowns than incompletions in a game. It's actually pretty crazy to think about a player achieving this feat. 

Barkley threw 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season and led the Trojans to a 10-2 record with sanctions. He completed over 69 percent of his passes and threw for 3,500 yards with a team that featured a bunch of rookies and sophomores. 

But throw away the stats for a minute.

This Trojan team came into the season with more questions than answers. In their first few games, despite winning, they made several mistakes with penalties and turnovers. They battled through adversity and got better as the year went along.

Instead of bending and breaking, Barkley led USC and kept them competitive throughout the season. The turning point came in a loss on a late October night at the Coliseum where the Trojans fell to Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal in triple overtime. Barkley and Luck went toe to toe and if it wasn't for a fumble by Curtis McNeal, Barkley may have come away with the upset.

It was a moment where most felt that USC football was back. Barkley came out the following week with a six-touchdown performance at Boulder, Colorado in weather that he's not accustomed in playing in. 

Two weeks later, he led the Trojans to a stunning victory over Oregon to knock them out of national championship consideration. 

Barkley has quickly risen above the ranks and is now a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. That being said, many pundits still put Trent Richardson of Alabama, Robert Griffin III of Baylor, Andrew Luck of Stanford and Case Keenum of Houston ahead of Barkley. 

First of all, as well as Richardson has played for Alabama, he has not provided the same impact that Barkley has had on the Trojans. Richardson is phenomenal. However, Alabama has an stingy defense as evidenced in their game against LSU. Alabama can win in more ways than one.

Matt Barkley is the leader of USC. Without him, who knows if the team would have recovered from the sanctions as quickly as they did. He leads both on and off the field and for that he deserves bonus points.

No program in recent history has received the punishment USC received for the Reggie Bush scandal and the way Barkley has responded deserves more praise. 

Griffin of Baylor had a fantastic performance against Oklahoma to up his chances for the Heisman, but most of his success came in the first few weeks of the season against cupcake opponents like Stephen F. Austin and Rice.

Barkley played well in both games against bad opponents, and in games against legitimate contenders. Griffin fell flat against No. 3 Oklahoma. However, Barkley rose to the occasion against both Stanford and Oregon. 

Keenum should not even be considered because he plays in a weak conference and gets easy opponents every week. Houston has not played a single ranked team. Getting straight A's in a sixth-grade level curriculum is not something that should be applauded. 

The best competition for Barkley is his arch nemesis Andrew Luck. Luck defeated him in the Coliseum but it was not Barkley's fault. They both played ridiculously well, and Luck came away with the victory. But what separates Barkley from Luck are their stats. 

They both play the same opponents since they're in the Pac-12, and Barkley has thrown for more touchdowns and less interceptions on a team that was not expected to do anything at all this season.

It's true that Barkley has more threats at receiver than Luck, but USC's team as a whole was nowhere near as good as Stanford's. Stanford is a physical team that was built to compete for the national championship this season.

That being said, Barkley outperformed Luck statistically and was almost able to defeat him. 

Barkley deserves the Heisman. If not the whole shebang, he at least deserves more consideration. It's sickening to see him behind guys like Keenum and Griffin who have not dealt with the same adversity Barkley had to face at USC. 

Barkley has brought more value to his team than Richardson, has played against tougher opponents than Keenum, has outperformed Luck and has been more clutch than Griffin. His play during the last several weeks showed that he improved as the year progressed. 

Who cares if Pat Haden did not commission a video promoting Barkley's bid for the Heisman? Is that what's really keeping him away from the treasured trophy? 

Let the numbers, his on-field demeanor and his off-the-field leadership do the talking for Barkley.

Let's be real. Barkley should be a top two Heisman candidate.