Matt Barkley Gets Big-Time Snub

USC Trojans junior quarterback Matt Barkley got the shaft from the Heisman Trophy Trust on Monday.
Despite clearly being one of the top five players in the nation this season, Barkley was not selected as one of five finalists for this seasons Heisman Trophy presentation.

While I think the committee got t right by inviting Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson and even LSU Tigers corner back Tyrann Mathieu, there’s no way I’m picking Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III or Wisconsin Badgers running back Montee Ball to attend ahead of Barkley, simply because neither player has absolutely no shot of actually winning.

Barkley closed out the 2011 campaign by throwing a whopping 10 touchdown passes in his final two games to set a new school and Pac-10 conference record with 39 TD strikes. Barkley also tossed a scant seven interceptions this season while finishing with 3,528 passing yards while leading USC to a 10-2 record and top-five finish in the Associated Press poll.

Bad-Ass Barkley!

I know that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck has been proclaimed as the consensus No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft by everyone from ‘Joe at the corner deli’ to expert NFL pundits all over the country, but  I’m going on record right now to say that I’d take USC signal-caller Matt Barkley over any other collegiate quarterback in the country right now.

I know Luck is a gifted player and everything, but I love Matt Barkley’s moxie and fight and believe the 6-2, 220-pound signal-caller has some intangibles to him that Luck doesn’t.

While Luck and the Stanford Cardinal were routed in the biggest game of his career – and one that could have put the Cardinal in the BCS title game for the first time in a half-century, Barkley and the sanctioned USC Trojans rode into Eugene, Oregon and laid a whuppin’ on the Ducks the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years,

Barkley also set a conference record with 39 touchdown passes this season while showing great restraint and accuracy in completing a jaw-dropping 69.1 percent of his passes this season while tossing just seven interceptions. Barkley also tossed a school-record six Touchdown passes in a game this season – twice. Yeah, call me crazy, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Matt Barkley turns out to be the better than Andrew Luck.