Good QBs come in threes, but only one can start at USC

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Neither Mitch Mustain nor Matt Barkley were surprised when Pete Carroll named Aaron Corp USC’s starting quarterback Tuesday.

Anybody following the situation could have made that read.

But rewind the clock a couple of years -- or a couple of weeks -- and it would be shocking news.

Mustain, who had a perfect 8-0 record as a freshman starter in the SEC, transfers to the Trojans and ends up third string as a redshirt junior?

Barkley, a true freshman, is listed as the No. 2 and has a legitimate shot at starting in the season opener against San Jose State?

Corp, a redshirt sophomore with three meaningless attempts in his entire college career, follows in the footsteps of Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty and Mark Sanchez as No. 1?

Officially, this is just temporary. Carroll made his decision because USC has its spring game Saturday and he’s treating this as a real game week -- meaning he had to name somebody. All three quarterbacks are good enough to start for most teams in America, and the competition will continue into the fall.

Corp has been overlooked for No. 1 the last two years for three reasons:

1. He came to a school loaded with high school All-Americans at quarterback. There was nothing Corp could do about biding time under Booty and Sanchez, but he’s certainly making up for it now.

2. He was rated only the second-best high school quarterback in Southern California behind Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen. Between Corp and Clausen, who would you rather have? And who got the better deal? It’s clear that Corp has the potential to go far on an offense bursting with talent and almost every starter returning. Until Corp plays in a real game, it won’t be clear if he’s the better quarterback -- but with his mobility and edge over Mustain and Barkley, it would seem he’s the favorite to finish with the better college career.

3. He was skinny. When Corp redshirted as a freshman, he could have have been useful on game days as a backup goalpost. He looked too thin. In two years, he’s been able to bulk up and now looks the part.

Barkley is arguably the most hyped recruit in the history of a program built around hyped recruits. Ignoring his fabled high school career, where he happened to be a four-year starter, his last couple of weeks have turned heads. All-Everything safety Taylor Mays called him the biggest surprise of the spring, noting that he was making some big mistakes -- but the kind of mistakes he’s supposed to make at this early stage of his career. The team’s best bell ringer gave Barkley a ringing endorsement in the days leading up to the announcement.

Mustain, if he can’t catch up to his competition, can take solace in the fact that football is a fickle game. Just ask the other transfer quarterback in Los Angeles -- UCLA’s Kevin Craft. The former San Diego State and JUCO signal caller was supposed to spend a quiet few months holding a clipboard behind Pat Cowan and Ben Olson last year. Then both Bruin QBs suffered season-ending injuries in consecutive plays of the same practice. That’s the way the oblong ball bounces.

The Arkansas transfer has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to transfer again, though he hypothetically could have a year of eligibility at another D-I program. [Note: There’s mixed information out there about transferring to a D-II school and being automatically eligible -- I’ve e-mailed them for clarification.] Mustain noted that he’s nearing completion of his degree and wouldn’t want to disrupt his academic progress. Even if he’s preparing for a regular career, being a backup at USC isn’t necessarily a dead end for his football one. Just ask Matt Cassel, who never started because of Palmer and Leinart, then led the New England Patriots for a season and became a highly sought-after free agent.

If Mustain never starts again, his 8-0 record could make for a good bar-stool argument over the best record in BCS conference history. Georgia’s David Greene leads the record books with 42 career victories but has 10 losses. The NCAA’s list by winning percentage requires a minimum of 25 starts (sorry, Sanchez) and is headed by Toledo’s Chuck Ealey (35-0) and Leinart (37-2).

-- Adam Rose