After everything he's been through, is Mitch Mustain poised to become USC's starting quarterback? Lane Kiffin says no, and he's got a recent history of dancing with the catfish he rode in on, no matter how mangy (see: Crompton, Jonathan). But so begins the season of there-is-no-quarterback-controversy-unless-there-is articles anyway. Conquest Chronicles takes a poke at the as-yet unhatched notion that this is even a real possibility:
↵We all know stats tell only part of the story.↵
Who the QB's play against in scrimmage is another factor. If Mustain is going against the 2's and Barkley is going against the 1's then it is only logical to think that Mustain would have better numbers.
But how should Barkley be performing against the 1's?
During last season's campaign, the idea of Mustain hoisting himself high enough to even pull a Matt Cassel heading into 2010 was nigh-unthinkable, but has he got a little Carson Palmer in him after all? EDSBS toys with the what-if weirdness of Mustain in a Petrino offense, if the Arkansas chronicles had ended differently. Me, I'm just saying the idea of him punting for the Hawgs next January is still out there, even if this next battle goes his way. (That's a joke.) (Well, mostly.)