The USC Trojans were at their absolute best on Saturday night in their 50-0 rout of the UCLA Bruins. Junior quarterback Matt Barkley set a new Pac-12 and USC single-season record for touchdown passes in a season with 39, and tied his own school record with six touchdowns in a single game. If Barkley does decide to come back for 2012, it will be to team with Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, the most prolific receiving duo in USC history.
Lee, a freshman, caught 13 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, and the sophomore Woods was no slouch himself with 12 catches for 113 yards and two scores of his own. That neither Lee nor Woods on Saturday set single-game highs for this season in catches, yards, nor touchdowns should explain just how dominant the duo was in 2011.
Woods and Lee are the fourth duo of Trojans' receivers to surpass 1,000 yards in the same season, joining Mike Williams and Keary Colbert (2002 and 2003), and Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith (2006). No pair of USC teammates have ever combined for more catches, receiving yards, or touchdowns than Woods and Lee had in 2011.
| Top USC Single Season Receiving Duos | |||||
| Player | Year | Games | Catches | Yards | TD |
| Robert Woods & Marqise Lee |
2011 | 12 | 184 | 2,435 | 26 |
| Mike Williams & Keary Colbert |
2003 | 13 | 164 | 2,327 | 25 |
| Mike Williams & Keary Colbert | 2002 | 13 | 152 | 2,294 | 19 |
| Dwayne Jarrett & Steve Smith |
2005 | 13 | 151 | 2,231 | 21 |
| Dwayne Jarrett & Steve Smith | 2006 | 13 | 141 | 2,098 | 21 |
| Johnnie Morton & Deon Strother |
1993 | 13 | 145 | 2,083 | 15 |
What makes Woods and Lee so impressive is that they set these records while playing one fewer game than the other pairs of receivers. Woods set a school and Pac-12 individual record with 113 catches, breaking Kershawn Johnson's old record of 102, set in 1995, also in 12 games.
Both Woods and Lee will be back in 2012. Will Barkley be the one throwing them passes?
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