USC quarterback Matt Barkley will miss the Hyundai Sun Bowl due to shoulder injury, meaning the senior will not play in the final game of his college career.
The news was confirmed by Trojans coach Lane Kiffin on the school's official Twitter account when he announced that redshirt freshman Max Wittek will start against Georgia Tech in the New Year's Eve bowl.
"Matt really wanted to play in the game and he was very close to being able to play and unfortunately for him our doctors have decided against it," Kiffin said to the Los Angeles Times. "It's nothing long term.... We ran out of time."
Barkley did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week and only participated in conditioning drills. Barkley has been dealing with the shoulder issue for over a month and Kiffin said he would be re-evaluated when the Trojans arrived in Texas for the game, but he instead decided to rule him out.
"Doctors haven't cleared me to play, so I won't be suiting up on Saturday. I'll be here with my team to finish strong. Proud to be a Trojan!" Barkley tweeted.
Barkley injured the shoulder on Nov. 17 against UCLA after getting tackled hard to the ground late in the fourth quarter. The Trojans lost the game 38-28.
Wittek, the 19-year-old redshirt freshman, made his first career start the following week against Notre Dame in the regular-season finale, completing 14 of 23 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. This season he has thrown for 281 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in four games.
"I've worked as hard as I could to get back for this game and nature's not allowing it and doctor's aren't allowing it, which is the most important thing--they're looking out for my best interest," Barkley said. "I trust their judgment."
Barkley and the Trojans entered the 2012 season with high expectations after finally coming off of a two-year postseason ban following the Reggie Bush scandal. Barkley stayed at the school despite the ban and hoped to bring a national title back to Southern California for his senior season.
The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll and Barkley was a Heisman candidate to start the year, but trailed off as the USC struggled. The team opened the year 6-1, but played in close games with Utah and Washington before losing two straight to Arizona and Oregon. The team defeated Arizona State 38-17 on Nov. 10, but lost the final two games against UCLA and Notre Dame.
Barkley still had a fantastic season for the Trojans, throwing for 2,273 yards and 36 touchdowns with 15 interceptions while completing over 63 percent of his passes. He had 301 yards and three touchdowns in his final college game against USC and passed for a career-high six touchdowns earlier this season against Colorado in a 50-6 win.
Barkley's play helped wide receiver Marqise Lee become one of the best wide receivers in the nation, making 112 catches for 1,680 yards and 14 touchdowns this season while winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award.
Although his final season with the Trojans was a disappointment, Barkley will go down as one of the most productive Pac-12 quarterbacks of all-time, leaving the school with career-conference records in total offense, passing touchdowns and passing yardage.
Barkley came to USC as the No. 1 recruit in the nation and became the first true freshman starting quarterback in school history by then-head coach Pete Carroll. He had 2,735 yards passing and 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions that first year, but continued to improve steadily in each of the next three seasons. He improved his completion percentage in 2010 to 62 percent from 59 and threw for 2,791 yards and 26 touchdowns. Barkley's best season came during his junior year when he threw for 3,528 yards and 39 touchdowns while competing nearly 70 percent of his passes.
USC won 35 games furring Barkley's four years starting at quarterback and played in only one bowl game due to NCAA sanctions. When USC was put on probation, Barkley took a leadership role after the departure of Carroll and helped keep the team together during a tough time by staying at the school. He hoped to bring a BCS championship to USC during his senior season, but instead it was derailed by injuries and mediocre play by the Trojans.
Barkley finishes his college playing career with 64.1% completion percentage and 12,327 passing yards with a Pac-12 Conference record 116 touchdowns.
Some of Barkley's best performances during his career came during USC's biggest games. He passed for 423 yards and six touchdowns last season in a 50-0 win over rival UCLA and led the Trojans to important road victories over Ohio State, Notre Dame and Oregon. In his first game against Notre Dame in 2009, Barkley passed for 380 yards and two touchdowns and later that season won his only bowl game, defeating Boston College 24-13 in the Emerald Bowl.
In his second career start for USC, Barkley helped lead a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter against Ohio State and then one year later went head-to-head with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in a 37-35 loss in which he passed for 390 yards.
The Trojans did a nice job against Notre Dame while Barkley was at the school, including last year in when he had 224 yards passing and three touchdowns in the 31-17 USC victory. He also defeated a high-powered Oregon team last season, throwing for 323 yards and four touchdowns while completing 26-of-34 passes in the 38-35 win.
Barkley's future now will be in the NFL, where he was projected to be a first-round draft pick before getting hurt. The injury is not a long-term problem, but teams may be weary of drafting a quarterback who injured their shoulder during their final year of college.
