USC football: Matt Barkley named Pac-12 offensive player of week

Staff Writer

Nov. 28, 2011 9:48 AM PT

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USC quarterback Matt Barkley was selected as the Pacific 12 Conference offensive player of the week, the league announced Monday.

Barkley tied his own school record by passing for six touchdowns in USC’s season-ending 50-0 victory over UCLA.

Barkley completed a school-record 35 of 42 passes for 423 yards. The junior completed 69.1% of his passes this season, breaking Rob Johnson’s 1993 record of 68.6%.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin has said that Barkley deserves to be among the Heisman Trophy finalists.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III and Alabama running back Trent Richardson are regarded as front-runners for the award, which will be presented on Dec. 10 in New York.

-- Gary Klein

Sports Now

Gary Klein

Gary Klein covers the Los Angeles Rams for the Los Angeles Times. Before that, he covered USC’s football program and athletic department. He began working for The Times in the San Fernando Valley edition and has reported on high school, college and pro sports. He grew up in Southern California and graduated from Cal State Northridge.