Barkley leads Trojans to gripping win over Fighting Irish

FORT WORTH, Texas (Oct. 19, 2009) – The Davey O’Brien Foundation has named Matt Barkley of the University of Southern California the O’Brien Quarterback of the Week for week seven. Barkley directed the Trojans to their eighth straight win over Notre Dame. The 34-27 victory over the Fighting Irish secured the Trojans (5-1) the No. 7 spot in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) poll this week.

“I thought it was an extraordinary day for our quarterback,” said USC head coach Pete Carroll. “I think you see Matt Barkley is really something.”

Barkley led the Trojans into South Bend, where he threw for 380 yards of the total 501 yards of offense; a career high for the true freshman quarterback. He completed 19 of 29 passes and threw for two touchdowns to wide receiver Damian Williams.

The Trojans return to the Coliseum to take on Oregon State this Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) on ABC.

Other quarterbacks who received votes in week seven included:

Joey Elliott                    Purdue                        Big Ten
Nick Foles                    Arizona                        Pac-10
Max Hall                       BYU                            Mountain West
Tyler Hansen                Colorado                       Big 12
Jacory Harris                Miami                           ACC                           
Case Keenum               Houston                       C-USA
Andrew Luck                Stanford                        Pac-10
Josh Nesbitt                 Georgia Tech                ACC
Ricky Stanzi                 Iowa                            Big Ten
Tim Tebow                    Florida                         SEC

The O’Brien honors the nation’s best college quarterback of the year. Each week a subset of The O’Brien Selection Committee will name the quarterback of the week who exemplifies the award’s standards. Currently all 120 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) quarterbacks are candidates for the award until Semifinalists are announced Oct. 26. Finalists will be announced Nov. 23 and the 2009 O’Brien Winner will be announced Dec. 10.

About The O’Brien Fan Vote
Fans can now register and vote for any of the 120 FBS quarterbacks online at www.VoteOBrien.org. The Fan Vote counts as 5% during each round of the voting process. The Fan Vote will be combined with the results from the Selection Committee, an elite group of journalists, commentators, broadcasters and former Winners. The 2009 O’Brien Winner will be announced on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing Dec. 10 on ESPN and will be honored at the 33^rd Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner held at The Fort Worth Club on Feb. 15, 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas.

About The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award^®
The O’Brien honors the nation’s best college quarterback of the year and inspires student-athletes to triumph both on and off the field. By recognizing and honoring athletes who excel in both sports and academics while exhibiting strong character and leadership, The O’Brien aims to help instill a lifelong moral fiber in each candidate. The O’Brien is overseen by the Davey O’Brien Foundation, which was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. The Foundation has given away more than $770,000 in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.

American Airlines is the official travel partner of The O’Brien.

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