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CAREER: Dating back to his junior high school days, he has a 61-2 (.968) record as a starting quarterback (9-1 in eighth grade in 2001, 9-0 in both ninth grade in 2002 and 10th grade in 2003, 12-1 in 11th grade in 2004, 14-0 in 12th grade in 2005 and 8-0 as a freshman at Arkansas in 2006). 2009: Mustain, the most experienced quarterback on USC's roster, will compete for the starting job as a junior in 2009. 2008: Mustain served as USC's backup quarterback as a sophomore in 2008. Overall in 2008 while appearing in 8 games (all but Oregon State, Arizona, California, Stanford and Penn State), he completed 11-of-16 passes (68.8%) for 157 yards with 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. After the season, he had laser eye surgery. He played a series at Virginia and threw a 10-yard TD on his only pass. He was in for 2 plays against Ohio State, but did not throw a pass. He was 5-of-8 for 111 yards and a score (with an interception) off the bench against Oregon, then was 2-of-3 for minus 2 yards against Arizona State. He completed his only pass (for 10 yards) in 3 series of action at Washington State and his only pass (a 21-yarder) while playing 2 series against Washington. He 1-of-2 for 7 yards with an interception versus Notre Dame, then played a series at UCLA (but did not throw a pass). 2007: Mustain, who started 8 games at quarterback for Arkansas as a first-year freshman in 2006, transferred to USC in the summer of 2007 but sat out his 2007 sophomore season because of NCAA transfer rules. He won USC's Service Team Offensive Player of the Year Award. ARKANSAS: As just a first-year freshman in 2006 at Arkansas, Mustain started-and won-8 consecutive games (Utah State, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, Southeast Missouri State, Mississippi, Louisiana-Monroe and South Carolina). Overall in 2006 while appearing in 12 games (all but LSU and Florida), he completed 69-of-132 passes (52.3%) for 894 yards and 10 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. After completing 4 of his 6 attempts for 47 yards with an intercepton while appearing late in the USC opener (he also ran for a 4-yard touchdown), he started the following 8 games (the most ever by an Arkansas true freshman quarterback) and led the Razorbacks to victories in each (a school first-year freshman record). Against Utah State in his first start (the earliest start by a true freshman in Arkansas history), he was 9-of-17 for 119 yards and a TD. He then was 13-of-20 for 224 yards and 3 scores (with an interception) at Vanderbilt to earn Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week honors. He followed that by going 7-of-22 for 97 yards with a TD and 3 picks against No. 22 Alabama in a double overtime victory, 7-of-10 for 87 yards with a TD at No. 2 Auburn, 5-of-13 for 51 yards and a TD (to current Trojan teammate Damian Williams) against Southeast Missouri State, 12-of-15 for 157 yards and a TD against Mississippi, 7-of-18 for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns (with 2 interceptions) against Louisiana-Monroe and threw an interception on his first and only attempt at South Carolina while playing just the first series. He appeared briefly off the bench against Tennessee and versus Florida in the SEC Championship Game, but did not attempt a pass. He was 5-of-10 for 41 yards and an interception off the bench against Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl. HIGH SCHOOL: He was named the 2005 Gatorade, USA Today and Parade Magazine National Player of the Year, as well as an EA Sports All-American, Rivals.com All-American, Scout.com All-American first team, Arkansas Associated Press Super Team, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Northwest Arkansas Morning News Player of the Year as a senior at Springdale (Ark.) High. He completed 190-of-270 passes (70.4%) for 3,817 yards (an Arkansas Class 5A season record) with 47 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions in 2005, as well as rushing for 141 yards on 30 attempts (4.7 avg.) with 7 TDs. He led Sprigdale to a 14-0 record, the state championship and a No. 2 national ranking in 2005. As a junior in 2004, he was 139-of-222 (64.7%) for 2,169 yards with 20 TDs and only 5 interceptions, plus ran for 350 yards and 14 scores, as Springdale went 12-1 and made it to the Class 5A semifinals. Current Trojan Damian Williams also prepped at Springdale High. PERSONAL: He's an international relations major at USC. He and Williams founded a campus Bible study group, Generate USC. MITCH MUSTAIN ON: On USC's quarterback depth: "It's competitive. I have to improve on everything. I just keep working. Whenever my time comes, I'll be ready...I'm going to keep fighting for it...I don't know why anyone thinks I'd transfer. I said a million times before I came here and since I've been here. I knew the scenario that was possible coming in. I understood the situation. I thought it would be worth it." Being at USC: "It's so fun at USC. I don't think anybody would trade it for anything. I don't think anyone can match our work ethic. We get the best training. We cherish the opportunities we get...I've enjoyed it up to this point. It is better than I envisioned...I enjoy living here." Sitting out the 2007 season after transferring to USC: "It was good for me to have that transition period and really learn the offense. It was a pretty fast season. By the end of that season, I definitely felt ready to go...I kind of went through that phase where you're just having to tear everything down and start over again. I'm finally through that." Why he left Arkansas: "It just got to the point where I knew it wasn't going to work out there...It was a unique experience, but it was a great learning experience...I was trying to get away from the perception of being `the guy' and the expectations that were placed. It's a little bit different game here at USC as far as the expectations. They come a little bit later once you've earned your spot. That's something I was looking for...It's so big here in Los Angeles. You can kind of go your own way." WHAT OTHERS SAY: USC head coach Pete Carroll: "We know how great a competitor Mitch is. He's been a winner all his life." Former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez: "He has a great arm. He can throw the ball through a brick wall. And his experience at Arkansas will really help him."
GAME-BY-GAME WITH MITCH MUSTAIN 2008
2006#
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