Matt Barkley, Marqise Lee, and Robert Woods. All three major components in this years USC passing game. Matt Barkley played his last game of college football against UCLA, where he was sacked in the fourth quarter separating his shoulder. Now to the big question, how will USC perform without Barkley? Both Lee and Woods are juniors, they both have stated they are not sure whether they will go to the NFL next year.
With Lee and Woods I say the Trojans can keep it together on the passing game, Lee being the Pac-12 offensive player of the year with close to 1,700 yards receiving, he has been nothing short of amazing.
While Lee gets the spotlight, Robert Woods is left to wonder, where did it go wrong? Last year Woods caught 111 balls for 1,292 yards and 15 touchdowns. This year? 73 balls for 813 yards and 11 touchdowns. Not bad, but still not last year. If Woods was eligible last year he would have been the number 7 pick, many blame Kiffin for his loss in draft value. When asked about his Notre Dame game he had this to say, ”I was still getting open, I just finally got a chance to get the ball in my hands. Other than that, it was just that Max was looking at me a little more, and squeezing in some of those throws.” Is this a shot at Barkley? Who has been throwing to Lee much more than Woods. But if Wittek was getting him the ball more, and Witteck could start next year, does that mean Woods will stay? His draft value could use it, he needs another Sophomore year. Don’t expect the defense to go sour either, losing a defensive back with 8 tackles on season and one linebacker wont do much to hurt the team. Overall, losing Barkley hurts, but don’t count USC out next year.
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