Mitch Mustain drops to third on QB depth chart

Every passing day seems to bring more reason for Trojan quarterback Mitch Mustain to regret his decision to transfer out of the Arkansas program. His parents had a real problem with him playing behind the Hogs’ Casey Dick, after Mustain went 8-0 as a starter in the SEC. Arkansas went as far as hiring Mustain’s former high school coach, giving him a position of offensive coordinator, and luring the top rated passer to the program. But it didn’t’ take long for the splinters of the bench to become irritating, as he watched his team of choice run McFadden and Jones over and over again.

It was time for a change of scenery. It was time to find a pro style passing offense more suitable for his talents. It was time to go somewhere that opportunity knocks, and that somewhere appeared to be USC. With John David Booty on his way out, leaving a battle with Mark Sanchez behind, Mustain had to love his chances. But just as quickly as spring becomes summer, and leads into fall, is how quickly Mitch Mustain went from starting probable to 3rd on the Trojans depth chart.

Pete Carroll still declares the battle for No. 2 “wide open” between Mustain and Aaron Corp, while also pointing out that Corp will be the "go to" guy if Sanchez is incapable of performing efficiently or for long periods against Virginia. It’s not a surprise to me, as I have always believed Corp brought more physical tools to the table. And coming out of Orange Lutheran High School in 2007, I personally had him ranked higher than Oak Christian’s Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame).

Going from High School superstar to third string slinger is a tremendous blow to an ego. But if you’re a fan of USC, it’s a delight to know you have two quarterbacks on the bench that can easily start for many division I programs, and another one on the way (Matt Barkley) in 2009. And to bring more of an unsettling feeling to the stomach of Mustain, Arkansas hired Bobby Petrino and his pro style offense to lead the program into the new season. His odds of starting in 2008 would have been greater with the old team than it is with the new.