OC Register Writer Blasts Cheatey Petey, Lampoons Barkley As "Boy Blunder"

Meanwhile across town the natives are getting restless. Case in point check out the following piece from the OC Register, which is basically Orange County version of the Daily Trojan. It is absolutely ugly. The article entitled, "USC football: Glory days over if Bates stays," takes Pom Pom behind the woodshed:

[I]t was Carroll who doomed the Trojans’ season even before it started with a series of poor decisions and missteps  at quarterback. And it’s Carroll who faces some hard decisions in the offseason if he is to put USC back into a position where it can challenge the Oregon schools and Stanford next season, to say nothing of assuming its annual spot in the national top five.

From the childish way he handed Mark Sanchez’s decision to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft; to his hiring of Jeremy Bates as quarterbacks coach and then turning over the offense to him; to the bungling of the Aaron Corp start at Washington; to his constant, over-the-top hype of freshman quarterback Matt Barkley to the point where it bordered on delusional,  Carroll botched every single major decision regarding the quarterback position.

As the clock wound down on the Trojans’ third loss in their final five games, Barkley was perhaps the most overrated player in the country, and it was largely Carroll’s fault.

Whether he was attempting to boost Barkley’s confidence — or perhaps shore up his own as he sent an unproven freshman quarterback into the season — Carroll’s endless hype of the former Mater Dei star created unrealistic expectations that no freshman, certainly not Barkley, could live up to. Carroll further compounded the foolishness of his endless promotion of Barkley by then placing Barkley’s future, and to a large extent that of the USC program, into the hands of someone just as in over his head as Barkley — Bates.

Barkley needed to be eased into the starter’s job. Instead, Carroll billed him as the next Palmer-Leinart-Sanchez-Elway-Unitas.

Barkley needed a teacher who would smooth his rough edges and elevate his game. Instead, Carroll handed him over to SlingBates.

No wonder we have been reading "rumors" about Bates being in the market for NFL gig (I wonder exactly who are floating the stories? Bates' agents desperate for his client to get him a new gig or Pom Pom's spin machine looking to transition another overhyped OC (following Chow) out of Heritage Hall (ooh look out Bear fans). Oh yeah, and here is the classic tidbit on the "Boy Blunder":

In the second half of the season, the Boy Wonder has become the Boy Blunder. Barkley threw six interceptions and four touchdowns in the last four game for a quarterback efficiency rating of 105.5. Barkley finished the season with 13 interceptions, the most by any Pac-10 quarterback or as many as the conference’s two other touted first-year starters, Stanford freshman Andrew Luck and Arizona sophomore Nick Foles, had combined. Just weeks after the hype started by Carroll actually had some wondering aloud whether Barkley was a legitimate Heisman candidate, the obvious question now is whether he is even the best quarterback on campus.

Woof. Read rest of his thoughts on Boy Blunder over here.

GO BRUINS.