Barkley ahead of game

During the second week of being a quarterback when Matt Barkley was in the sixth grade, he did something that showed why he’s now the starting signal caller for the No. 3-ranked college football team in the nation.

Back then Barkley was just learning while playing in the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Pee-Wee Division. But he still flashed glimpses that he had the potential to become the first true freshman to start at USC. Sure there were signs there with the Seahawks that gave a spark of an indication that he could dazzle in his debut, a Trojans’ 56-3 rout of San Jose State Saturday.

But now the true test comes this Saturday, when USC plays at No. 8-ranked Ohio State. If people think the Newport Beach native will crumble because of the pressure, because of the more than 105,000 fans expected to fill Ohio Stadium, they might want to hear a story from Brent Melbon.

Now the head coach at Dana Hills, Melbon then worked with the young Barkley in the Newport-Mesa Junior All-American program seven years ago. Melbon coached Barkley for three years.

In that first year, that first week, they trained for an hour, an hour before practice began. They solely worked on upper body drills. During the second week, Barkley wanted to get one step ahead of the game.

“That second week, he came even an extra hour earlier to work on the upper body drills on his own because he wanted more time to work with me on other facets,” Melbon said. “I thought to myself: this kid doesn’t want to take it slow at all. By the second year, he was on his way. We went 11-0 and won the championship mainly because of his ability to throw the ball.”

Barkley possesses talent and the desire to be challenged, Melbon explained, and that could be seen when he was young. Even before he starred at Mater Dei, Coach Bruce Rollinson, as well as Melbon, could see something special in Barkley, who attended football camps put on by Rollinson.

While most quarterbacks his age were working on quick throws, Barkley was completing deep comeback passes from a seven-step drop. The accuracy was there then, the poise came later with the Monarchs. And, it was on display Saturday with the Trojans.

It probably wasn’t a beginning he dreamed of, but he shook off a shaky start. USC’s first four series resulted in two fumbles and two punts, but then Barkley, who turned 19 Tuesday, led the Trojans on four straight scoring drives before halftime.

He completed 15 of 19 passes and threw for 233 yards and a touchdown without an interception.

“It was a great first day — I couldn’t have wished for anything better,” Barkley told the Los Angeles Times.

While Barkley was efficient, he also benefited from a dominant running game. The Trojans amassed 342 of their 620 yards on the ground. Barkley was at the helm, directing the offense. That might’ve seemed like a long shot to most when Barkley decided to commit to USC and enroll early with the Trojans last spring.

At one point after Barkley’s commitment, Steve Sarkisian, then the USC offensive coordinator, left for Washington and star QB Mark Sanchez had not declared for the NFL Draft. But Barkley never wavered.

After Sanchez left for the NFL, a door opened for Barkley. Then Aaron Corp, the redshirt sophomore who had been named the starter at the end of the spring, sustained a leg injury, giving Barkley yet another opportunity.

Did that stun Rollinson?

“When I saw Sanchez opt for the draft and that it would become a three-man race to be the starter, I became extremely confident Barkley would become the guy,” said Rollinson in his 21st season at Mater Dei. “If there was any kid from Mater Dei to start as a freshman at USC, I knew it would be Matt Barkley. So I guess I’m not that surprised.”

Rollinson wasn’t left in disbelief because he’s the coach who started Barkley as a freshman for the Monarchs.

“I didn’t care about what people would say about starting a freshman,” Rollinson said.

The Mater Dei coach said he knew Barkley was the Monarchs’ best and deserved to start.

Fast forward to four years, and it was USC Coach Pete Carroll not lacking for confidence in his freshman quarterback before or after San Jose State.

“Matt Barkley just absolutely handled this,” Carroll told the Times. “It was no big deal for him.”

But now a bigger test awaits.