QB Barkley says he's staying to lead USC

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley believed he was prepared to play in the NFL, and the draft prognosticators agreed with him.

He had skillfully guided the program through two years of NCAA sanctions, put up big numbers to add his name to the list of great Trojans quarterbacks.

Barkley just wasn’t ready to leave. He still had some unfinished business at USC.

Setting off a round of cheers at USC’s Heritage Hall, Barkley announced Thursday that he’s returning for his senior season, putting off the NFL for a chance to lead the Trojans from under the cloud of NCAA sanctions to a BCS bowl.

“I am staying so I can finish what I started,” Barkley said.

At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and with a game that matured over three years at Troy, Barkley was projected as a high first-round pick in the NFL draft – which had lured his predecessor, Mark Sanchez, after his junior season.

Instead of following Sanchez’s footsteps, Barkley took the route of former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Leinart returned to USC after winning the Heisman Trophy and a national championship, and led the Trojans to the 2005 BCS title game, where they lost to Texas. Luck came back this season after being the Heisman runner-up last year and took the Cardinal to the Fiesta Bowl while finishing second to Baylor’s Robert Griffin III in this year’s Heisman voting.

Like those two, Barkley felt as though he still had goals he wanted to accomplish after leading the Trojans to a 10-2 record and a No. 5 ranking in The Associated Press poll.

Barkley let USC coach Lane Kiffin know about his decision with a Christmas ornament that had a picture of the two together during this season’s game against Colorado on one side and the words “One More Year” on the back. His announcement Thursday in front of about 200 people, including his family and Kiffin, set off a wave of applause and a quick burst from USC’s band as a pair of cheerleaders danced along.

“That’s not an easy decision,” Kiffin said. “Not many people would do what Matt has done.”

Now, Barkley also enters next season as the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy – much the way Luck did when he made a similar decision after the 2010 season.

HEAPS TO KANSAS

Kansas coach Charlie Weis landed two high-profile quarterbacks when former top recruit Dayne Crist announced on Twitter that he would join the Jayhawks for his senior season, shortly before news broke that BYU quarterback Jake Heaps, a former Skyline High of Sammamish star, was also transferring to Kansas.

Crist will reunite with Weis, who recruited him to Notre Dame, and be eligible to play next season because he has already graduated from Notre Dame.

Heaps will have to sit out under NCAA transfer rules but will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

After setting four freshman records at BYU last season, Heaps struggled early this season and lost the starting job to Riley Nelson.

EXTRA POINTS

Texas A&M senior offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, a three-year letterman who played sparingly, died as a result of a car accident in Normangee, Texas – about 40 miles from College Station. Witness reports said that Villavisencio swerved to avoid a large bird and veered head-on into the path of an 18-wheeler. … Pittsburgh hired Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst to replace Todd Graham, who bolted for Arizona State. Chryst, 46, is Pitt’s fourth head coach in the past 13 months. … Akron hired Terry Bowden as its new coach to turn around a program that went 2-22 in the past two seasons. … Nebraska coach Bo Pelini promoted defensive line coach John Papuchis, 33, to defensive coordinator and hired Rick Kaczenski from Iowa to coach the line.