A few random thoughts as we head into the weekend:

—Auburn has named Chris Todd its starting quarterback.  Considering Gus Malzahn’s reputation, I’d put the over/under on Todd’s touchdown passes this season at 25.

—As excited as Pete Carroll is about freshman Matt Barkley, USC’s best chance at competing for a national title is still with Aaron Corp at quarterback.  People are quick to forget that Barkley had a 23-18 TD-to-INT ratio as a senior in high school.  You don’t want your freshman QB throwing picks in Columbus.

—Another note on USC’s quarterbacks.  The Trojans have on their roster a true freshman who led California high schools in passing last year with 4,266 yards and 44 TDs and who also ran for another 608 yards and 2 TDs.  He threw for 446 yards against Barkley’s Mater Dei squad last season, outplaying the current Trojan phenom head-to-head.  He tallied fewer interceptions than Barkley despite 130 more attempts.  But he’s not playing quarterback for USC.  Must be an undersized guy with a popgun arm, right?  Wrong.  He’s 6-5, 230 pounds with a rocket arm.  So why is James Boyd playing defensive end instead of quarterback, especially with Corp injured right now?  I’ve heard of adhering to a system–and USC seems to prefer quarterbacks who stay in the pocket–but how do you waste a talent like this at defensive end?  Just asking.

–By the way, I keep hearing that Pat Haden–a current USC trustee–could be USC’s next athletic director whenever Mike Garrett retires.

—Pat Forde has this cool piece on safeties Eric Berry and Taylor Mays.  I find the sidebar by Todd McShay, however, to be a bit absurd.  McShay posits that Mays should go ‘somewhere in the middle of the first round’ and makes the mind-bending prediction that both Berry and Mays will be off the board by the 20th pick.  Ya think?  Here’s a better prediction:  Neither will be available after the 10th pick and possibly much sooner than that.

—ESPN’s preseason All-American squad is out.  Couple of interesting picks, namely Eric Decker of Minnesota at wide receiver and no Gerald McCoy at all.

—Good story here by Mark Schlabach on the challenges faced by defenses these days in stopping all the new-fangled offenses. 

—ESPN’s top 150 high school players for 2009-10 is out.  Defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat tops the list.

—CFN thinks Texas will go 9-3.  Sorry, I just can’t see three losses on that schedule.