sickemsmokey10
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Trojans' Corp is No. 2 at QB - LA Daily News
USC freshman Aaron Corp will officially be the Trojans' No. 2 quarterback ahead of sophomore Mitch Mustain for Saturday's season opener against Virginia.
"If we played tonight, Aaron would go first," offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said. "But that doesn't mean (the competition is) over. They both worked extremely hard."
Sarkisian said Corp has improved dramatically since spring practice.
"They both played well and have a ways to go, but Aaron really progressed," Sarkisian said. "He's extremely mobile and has done a nice job with the deep ball. Is he perfect? No. He still needs to learn some things with game management."
Asked about the fact Mustain went 8-0 at Arkansas with an extra year's experience, Sarkisian said, "The thing to remember about Arkansas was that it was a different system."
Corp will play Saturday if anything happens to starter Mark Sanchez or if Sanchez needs a break. Sarkisian said he would closely monitor Sanchez to see if conditioning becomes an issue during the game because Sanchez missed several weeks with a dislocated kneecap.
"I don't want that to happen, but if we get pushed to that point, we have to do what we have to do," Sarkisian said.
Sanchez threw two interceptions during Tuesday's practice in the scrimmage portion, which was not exactly a confidence boost going into the Virginia game.
"There's a little bit of rust in there," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We need to make
sure we clean things up and protect him." Carroll said he did not view the interceptions as understandable following Sanchez's prolonged absence.
"We don't ever want stuff like that to happen and then brush it off," Carroll said.
Sanchez downplayed the interceptions by safety Kevin Ellison and defensive end Malik Jackson because he was more excited to practice full-speed with no problem.
"I was bummed, but they made great plays," he said. "If I'm not thinking about my knee, I don't want to think about interceptions."
Team doctor James Tibone cleared Sanchez on Tuesday night, the final step before he officially starts against Virginia.
"He can run, he can cut," Tibone said. "I was surprised how well he did last week."