USC 50 --- UCLA clobbered. Barkley for Heisman!

USC demolished UCLA while shutting them out 50 -0, holding the Bruins 0-3 on 4th down conversions, including stopping the Bruins in the red zone on two attempts to score.

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself, when you think about how the three starting linebackers are all true / redshirt freshmen, and one starting wide receiver is a true sophomore while a true freshman starts at the other side.

Matt Barkley may have had his best game ever as a Trojan, setting himself up to be included in the Heisman voting.  Barkley's 424 yards passing on 35 - 42 passes, 6 touchdowns, zero interceptions and 10.1 yards per passing attempt was absolutely beautiful to watch, on his way to breaking the PAC-12 record for touchdowns in a season with 39.

If he stays one more year, he could obliterate Carson Palmer's career USC total passing yards record (11,818 yards), and Matt Leinart's career touchdown record (99 touchdowns), which is the PAC-12 record as well.

And at the end of the game, the whole crowd was chanting, "ONE MORE YEAR!"  Everyone knows that if he comes back, 2012 could result in a BCS NC game and a Heisman -- just look at all the talent on that roster!

In previous seasons, he had faded in the second half of the year, but this year, he exploded in production, and could be qualified as the best quarterback in the PAC-12 in the last 6 games of the season.

2011

Half	Comp	Att	%	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	INT
1	152	223	68.2%	1782	8.0	16	4
2	156	223	70.0%	1747	7.8	23	3
Total	308	446	69.1	3529	7.9	39	7

2010

Half	Comp	Att	%	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	INT
1	113	174	64.9%	1517	8.7	15	4
2	123	203	60.6%	1274	6.3	11	8
Total	236	377	62.6%	2791	7.4	26	12

2009

Half	Comp	Att	%	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	INT
1	97	161	60.2%	1540	9.6	7	5
2	114	191	59.7	1195	6.3	8	9
Total	211	352	59.9	2735	7.8	15	14

Each season Barkley improved, but this year he didn't suffer a second-half season fade.  Good enough for a Heisman this year?

Most people think Andrew Luck will win it, but Luck has suffered a second half fade this year.  Mind you, if you look at his total for the season, he did well, but clearly, Matt Barkley outperformed Andrew Luck in the second half of the season, deep in PAC-12 competition.

2011 (Andrew Luck)

Half	Comp	Att	%	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	INT
1	129	181	71.3%	1719	9.5	18	3
2	132	192	68.8%	1451	7.6	17	6
Total	261	373	70.0%	3170	8.5	35	9

And if you look at team scoring, you can't help but notice that Stanford faded in the second half, while USC surged, right in the middle of PAC-12 conference games, culminating in its blowout win against UCLA.  Meanwhile, Stanford scored its lowest offensive output of the entire season.  In fact, following the overtime win against USC, Stanford's offense was never the same: 38 pts ---> 30 pts ---> 31 pts ---> 28 pts.

Stanford
Half	PPG
1	45.8
2	41.3
Tot	43.6

USC
Half	PPG
1	30
2	41.5
Totl	35.8

I think Stanford and Andrew Luck are very good and worthy of a BCS at-large invite, but I think USC just kept getting better throughout the whole season, and ended on a very high note.  If they were allowed to play in a bowl game, it's hard to argue that they couldn't beat just about anyone in the nation.

Barkley for Heisman!