Associated Press

Quarterback Matt Barkley (7) tied a school record with five TD passes against Hawaii in the Southern California opener last Thursday.

Associated Press

File November Southern Cal quarterback Matt Barkley threw for 2,735 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, when he became the first true freshman to start at quarterback at USC.

LOS ANGELES -- Transfer? Not Matt Barkley.

In June, the NCAA hit Southern California's football program with harsh sanctions related to the Reggie Bush era. As part of the punishment, USC won't be able to play in a bowl game this season or next.

Barkley had options. He started at quarterback as a true freshman last fall, so he still would have had three years of eligibility left had he opted to transfer.

Some players did leave USC. Not Barkley.

"It never entered my mind even once," the Newport Beach, Calif., native said at Pac-10 media day at the Rose Bowl in late July. "It's still almost like a dream come true to be playing at this school.

"To get a degree from the University of Southern California is huge. ... Also, not a lot of people think about this, is how many people we send to the NFL. I figured signing with USC would give me the best chance as a quarterback to go into the league, and that hasn't changed."

The next time USC will be eligible for the BCS title game or any other bowl is the 2012 season. That could be Barkley's senior year, but odds are he will be an NFL rookie that year instead.

"Coming into USC, I had a couple things I wanted to accomplish. Obviously, a national championship was up there," said Barkley, whose team hosts Virginia on Saturday. "So it kind of stinks that we're not going to be able to do that the next couple years."

Joked USC coach Lane Kiffin, who was sitting next to Barkley at the time: "So you're announcing that you're staying for your senior year so you can do that?"

Barkley replied, "Yeah, we'll see. Hopefully."

Later, while holding court with the media by himself, Barkley said it won't be hard for the No. 16 Trojans to be motivated this season -- even though they can't advance to the Rose Bowl or the BCS title game.

"Our goal before all this came down was to win as many games as we can, and that hasn't changed," said Barkley, whose team is still eligible to be crowned national champion in The Associated Press poll. "It's not up to us to decide who the best team in the country is. But if we leave no doubt, if we win every game, ... then it should be good things for us in the long run."

Kiffin is confident Barkley will help USC succeed.

"When all those sanctions come down, ... I speak to the media and then here comes Matt Barkley [to do so] -- handles himself with great class, with great composure," Kiffin recalled. "I don't know many kids that can do that at that age. That carries over on the football field. That's one of the reasons you'll see him have a great year."

Barkley, who graduated early from high school so he could participate in spring football in 2009, completed 211 of 352 passes for 2,735 yards in 12 games last fall.

He became the first USC true freshman to start a season opener at quarterback. A week later, he led the team on a game-winning drive at Ohio State. In the sixth game, he threw for 380 yards in a win over Notre Dame.

But he had almost as many interceptions (14) last year as touchdown passes (15), and the Trojans finished a disappointing 9-4.

"With all very young quarterbacks, especially freshmen, they want to wait [to throw to a receiver]: 'I want to wait till he breaks. I want to wait until I see him open,'" ESPN analyst Brock Huard said. "When you wait like that, you give a defense an advantage. With more experience, you start to see that anticipation grow and then largely the interceptions should come down."

Still, Huard was impressed with Barkley last season.

"He was thrown right into the fire," Huard said. "He physically got beat up. I think he emotionally got a little bit beat up. But he ... stood in there.

"He took all that adversity on those broad shoulders. And that's invaluable, invaluable experience as you move ahead."

After succeeding Pete Carroll as coach, Kiffin re-opened the quarterback competition. Barkley fended off Mitch Mustain in spring practice this year.

"It challenged me to be a better quarterback," Barkley said. "It made me improve my game a lot."

In last week's season-opening 49-36 win at Hawaii, Barkley completed 18 of 23 passes for 257 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Barkley not only worked on his decision-making in the offseason. He also shed some pounds to improve his quickness.

"The guy still had a bunch of baby fat," Kiffin said. "We completely changed his workout plan. We changed his diet. And he's really bought into it."

Barkley could be better this season and still not even make the All-Pac 10 second team, though.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper predicts Washington's Jake Locker and Stanford's Andrew Luck will be the top two picks in next year's NFL Draft.

"Why those two are at the top of Mel Kiper's board ... is because of their raw, physical skills," Huard said. "They can throw it as well as Matt Barkley, but then both of those guys can run. Matt's not going to beat you with his legs."

Barkley is confident in his overall ability, however.

"I believe my best is better than anyone else's best," he said.

He won't get to show it in a bowl game this season, though. He will have the same free time during winter break as the regular students at USC.

So what will he do?

"I've thought about it a lot," he said. "I'll probably go overseas, go on a [church] mission.

"This is a big block of time that I'm going to try to take advantage of."