FanHouse Aaron Corp

South Carolina had the honors of getting college football's fourth week off in high fashion, toppling preseason darling Mississippi 16-10 Thursday. Coming on the heels of Miami topping Georgia Tech last week, Thursday is fast becoming college football's version of Halloween, where underdogs dress up like contenders and make weird and wild things happen.

The win didn't come easy for South Carolina, however. Gamecock coach Steve Spurrier was the picture of agonized helplessness in the game's final period, alternating between shrugs, uncomfortable grins and palms-to-the-face while nursing a 16-3 lead. Relief finally came after his defense repelled Ole Miss' final charge at the Gamecocks' 41 yard line.

(Not to brag, but we told you so. Sort of. Ole Miss was ripe for an upset, with our only error being the assumption that they'd get through a few more weeks of play before reality set in. Apologies for that.)

USC once again followed a tired pattern Saturday, losing its Pac-10 road opener to Washington thanks to a bevy of offensive problems. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, starting in place of injured freshman Matt Barkley was ineffective, tossing a pair of interceptions inside the Washington 30-yard line as USC fell to the Huskies 16-13. Washington kicked a 22-yard field goal with seconds remaining to eclipse the No. 3 Trojans.

USC's Pac-10 troubles are well established, having lost to Oregon State in 2008, Stanford and Oregon in 2007, UCLA in 2006 and Cal in 2003. The road openers have been predictably troublesome, with the Cal and Oregon State losses in that mix. Of particular embarrassment, USC coach Pete Carroll lost to disciple Steve Sarkisian, who only last week snapped a 15-game losing streak for the troubled Washington football program.

LOS ANGELES -- When USC's first-string offense takes the field at Washington on Saturday, the Trojans are expected to have third-year sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp leading the way.

Corp will be making his first career start after watching true freshman Matt Barkley lead USC to victories over San Jose State and Ohio State to open the season.

The buzz for USC heading into Saturday was true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, but after the Trojans' 56-3 thrashing of San Jose State the men in the trenches proved to be the real show. After a shaky first quarter that saw the Trojans trailing 3-0 thanks to three punts and two turnovers, the offensive line took over creating massive lanes on the way to a 342 yard rushing effort (7.6 yards/carry). The line also pass blocked brilliantly, leaving Barkley nearly limitless time to throw.

On the other side of the ball the Trojans' defense logged a stunning 16 tackles for loss in limiting the Spartans to a meek 121 yards of total offense. There's no doubt Barkley is a talent and had his moments in an otherwise conservative passing game plan, but the Trojans' lines really got after it on Saturday in a manner that if it can be repeated next weekend against Ohio State will go a long way towards championship talk this season.

The attrition beat goes on at Troy where USC has lost projected starting cornerback Shareece Wright to academic ineligibility. We'll outline USC's growing injury woes in a moment but Wright's is intriguing because he had starting experience on an otherwise young defense that lost tons of players to the NFL.

Wright was expected to be part of a loaded secondary which has been dominant all camp for USC. Instead, the Trojans will shift sixth year cornerback-safety Josh Pinkard to cornerback and move longtime backup safety Will Harris to a starting gig. Harris replaced an injured Kevin Ellison for five starts last year and the USC defense remained superb as Harris shined particularly against Penn State in the Rose Bowl with an interception and fumble recovery.

LOS ANGELES -- Less than 30 minutes after USC completed its final preseason game-type scrimmage over the weekend, the scene in a crowded L.A. Coliseum media room spoke volumes about the character of third-year sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp.

While reporters and television cameras swarmed around USC true freshman Matt Barkley -- recently named the team's starting quarterback for the Trojans' season opener against San Jose State next week -- Corp sat at an open table and calmly talked about his new role as Barkley's backup.

While it isn't really a surprise, it's still kind of a surprise.

On Thursday, USC coach Pete Carroll named true freshman Matt Barkley the team's starting quarterback. The 18-year-old enrolled at school a semester early, and impressed the coaches throughout spring and fall practice. He will be the first true freshman to start a USC opener at quarterback.

With sophomore Aaron Corp returning from a knee injury to practice by coach Pete Carroll's Tuesday's deadline to compete for the Week 1 starting job, USC's quarterback decision has been pushed back a few days. If Corp had not returned Tuesday, the slot against San Jose State likely would have gone to freshman prodigy Matt Barkley.

Corp's return likely changes the math dramatically. He appeared healthy if a little less aggressive with his runs at Tuesday's practice, looking efficient while Barkley offered up his usual mix of brilliant play mixed with turnovers -- in this case a pair of interceptions.

So is this the year someone besides USC wins the Pac-10 title and gains the automatic BCS bowl berth?

If there is ever a year for USC to get chased from behind and caught, this is this year. The Trojans are breaking in a new quarterback in Aaron Corp and replacing several departed starters to the NFL draft.

So who's it going to be? Cal? Can the Golden Bears overcome early-season trap games and win the games they are supposed to and make it interesting? Can Oregon beat USC at home and win difficult road games and take the title? And how about Oregon State? Do Mike Riley teams always have to start 1-3 before getting into high gear?

And what about the rest of the field? Is this Stanford's breakout year? Is UCLA ready to become a Pac-10 factor again? And is Arizona really the third worst team in the conference as it was picked by the media? These are all intriguing questions that will be worked out in the coming weeks.

Our standings preview and records predictions are after the jump.

LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps there was a reason Pete Carroll pleaded with Mark Sanchez to return to USC for his senior season. He knew his Trojans would lose their gorilla grip on the Pac-10, and that is the enduring theme entering the conference's media day Thursday at the LAX Sheraton Hotel.

The Trojans are not the prohibitive favorites, but the precarious favorites with a slew of teams chasing them. But there's one major catch in their pursuit, most of the conference teams -- outside Washington -- are breaking in a new or less experienced quarterback. USC should be voted the favorites Thursday, but who is second?