Heisman Trophy 2011: Why USC QB Matt Barkley Should Be on the List

As the Heisman Trophy Trust meets tonight in New York City with five of the best playmakers from the 2011 season, there seems to be one high profile college football player absent from the festivities.

That one player that missing from tonight’s Heisman Trophy ceremony is USC quarterback Matt Barkley, fresh off the best season of his career as signal caller for the Trojans.

The obvious reason why Barkley wasn’t selected to go to New York City tonight is due to the fact that Southern California is in their final year of probation from the NCAA for violations.

While it does make sense to keep Barkley off the list for the USC violations, the junior quarterback did have a great season in 2011, as the Trojans would have been contending for a berth in the Pac-12 title game and possibly going to the Rose Bowl this January.

For the 2011 season, Matt Barkley completed 308 of his 446 attempts for 39 touchdowns and only seven interceptions by the opposing defenses this season. In addition to his passing stats, Barkley also took two touchdowns in on the ground as the junior rushed for a very modest 54 yards in 2011.

When you compare the stats of Barkley to that of the quarterbacks selected for this season’s Heisman trophy ceremony, the USC quarterback is right there in the standings with Griffin and Luck and, in some categories, actually is better than the two Heisman candidates.

If it weren’t for a blown call by a referee in USC’s three overtime loss to Stanford in the last seconds of regulation, Matt Barkley and the Trojans could have been the top team in the Pac-12 this season as USC went on to defeat the eventual champion Oregon on November 19^th.

If Barkley returns to Los Angeles next season for his senior campaign with the Trojans, I would expect to see the USC quarterback as the leader of the pack at the Heisman Trophy presentation next December.

Chris Humphrey is a featured columnist for BleacherReport.com. He has covered everything from college football, college basketball, UFC, NFL, NBA and the WWE in his short time writing for the website. You can become a fan of him on B/R and follow him on Twitter @_CBH_.