While all of the talk in regards to both this year’s Heisman trophy and the first overall pick for next year’s NFL draft has been about Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, another option has emerged in recent weeks that could steal the spotlight from one of the biggest names at the college level. While he didn’t come in to this season with as much hype and support from the national media, USC Trojans’ quarterback Matt Barkley has quietly built one of the better resumes in the country as a potential Heisman winner.
While the majority of this weekend’s sports betting options are considered irrelevant to those already looking ahead to the bowl season, Barkley could have used the extra week of work to showcase his skills. However, Barkley made up for the lost game with a monster performance against the rival UCLA Bruins in California last week, throwing for six touchdown passes to help the Trojans finish with a 7-2 record in PAC-12 games. That number is just one fewer than the total number of interceptions that he has thrown all season at 7, and he has now thrown for 39 scores on the year. The fact that he has thrown for four more touchdowns than Luck, while also pitching two less interceptions will have to be considered by the Heisman voters. Barkley has never been the player talked about by the pay head bookies to go No. 1 in next year’s NFL draft, in fact, he hasn’t even declared his intentions to enter the draft, but he should be in the running for Heisman voting.
