The Mitch Mustain experiment will reach a new stage this afternoon.
Mustain, USC's third-string quarterback, is slated to take all the reps at punter in the full-squad special teams period during today's 4 p.m. practice.
Mustain, USC's third-string quarterback, is slated to take all the reps at punter in the full-squad special teams period during today's 4 p.m. practice.
WHY????!!!!!!!!!! There is a back story to why this kid isn't getting to take snaps during games, and I want to know what it is.
Actually, if he can really punt it gives Mitch a great opportunity to make it to the next level. It also gives him a chance to contribute more to the team.
Alright, I think it's time to examine how Mitch Mustain did during the 12 games he participated in at Arkansas during his freshmen year:
69 completions out of 132 attempts. That's a 52% completion rate.
894 yards
10 TDs, 9 INTs
These aren't stellar numbers. I know that some of it can be attributed to him being a freshman in a run-oriented system. The point is that I don't know where every one got the idea that Mitch Mustain came to USC as a top rated college quarterback.
By the way, I don't know where all of this "8-0 in the SEC" stuff comes from, seeing as how Mustain only played in SEVEN SEC games. Lastly, there are two reasons for Mustain winning those games: Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Doesn't anyone in here remember the Razorback system that eventually caught on in the NFL and influenced the Wildcat system?
Maybe in some fantasy land Mustain is getting blackballed by the USC coaching staff. The reality might just be that Mustain hasn't adapted to USC's system yet. At least he could be a stellar punter.
Scratch his record. He was 7-1 in the SEC games that he played in. He rushed for two yards in a losing attempt to the Florida Gators (28-38).
Ha, I was wrong again! Mustain only played in SIX games, and he was 5-1 in those.
Mustain started 8 games at Arky and played in a handful of others as a true frosh without the benefit of early enrollment. McFadden and Jones were 4-7 the year before Mustain arrived and 8-5 the year after he transferred.
He was the service team offensive player of the year his first season at USC and was neck-and-neck with Sanchez in the spring that followed.
This is why some of us are curious as to what happened.
Mustain played in 12 games his first season at Arkansas; he started 8 games. His record as a starter there was 8-0.
You make good points. I just don't know how much of an indicator winning the service team award is. Secondly, I love USC football as much as anyone, but I know how political Pete Carroll can be. You can't "always compete" if the competition isn't good enough.
Jack,
I was keeping his record within SEC boundaries since that's what I've been hearing a lot about on the internet. Your right about his totals, though.
Very true. You also can't "always compete" when you get a fraction of the reps with the 1's your competiton gets.
Jack,
Not getting any snaps as a backup is well-established practice is college and professional football. The most disturbing scenario would be Carroll starting Barkley just to see if he could win with a freshmen.
You can check Mustain's record on USCtrojans.com, he's 8-0 in 8 consecutive games that he's started, until he was benched when Casey Dic returned back:
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/mustain_mitch00.html
Yes, he started with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, but the starting quarterback Casey Dick was only 2-4 with the same team (maybe against hard opponents).
BakersD - not doubt that not getting snaps as a backup is well-established. Following that logic, Mustain was already deemed the backup before the "competition" began.
Jack,
I'm not saying that he never had his chance to secure the job, just that it's difficult to make headway once a starter is already named. All in all, I do wonder why Mustain wasn't put into the Washington game.
Carroll isn't interested in giving Mustain an opportunity to light it up... that would cause a QB controversy he can't afford.