USC’s Barkley Out vs GT

By Southern Pigskin Staff
SouthernPigskin.com

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Southern Cal quarterback Matt Barkley has been ruled out for the Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech.

ESPN.com

USC quarterback Matt Barkley won't play in the Hyundai Sun Bowl because of a shoulder injury, effectively ending his college career.

According to the Trojans' Twitter account, coach Lane Kiffin said on Thursday that freshman Max Wittek will start against Georgia Tech in the New Year's Eve bowl.

Kiffin had said Barkley, who has been nursing a strained right shoulder for more than a month, would be re-evaluated when the Trojans arrived in El Paso, Texas.

A senior and onetime Heisman Trophy contender, Barkley has been sidelined since suffering the injury Nov. 17 in USC's loss to rival UCLA.

Wittek made his first career start in USC's regular-season-ending loss to Notre Dame, completing 14 of 23 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.