Mitch Mustain

Mitch Mustain

Mustain after a 2008 fall practice at USC
No. --     Georgia Force
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: February 27, 1988 (1988-02-27) (age 23)
Place of birth: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
College: Southern California
Undrafted in 2011
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
Georgia Force (2012- present) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
2005 Hall Trophy 2005 PARADE High School Player of the Year 2005 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year 2005 USA Today National Player of the Year

Mitchell Mustain (born February 27, 1988 in Springdale, Arkansas) is an American football quarterback who is currently a member of the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League. He played college football at USC. Mustain played his freshman year of college at the University of Arkansas in 2006 before transferring to USC in 2007. Under NCAA transfer rules, he sat out the 2007 season and started playing for USC in the 2008 season.

Mustain was one of the most highly decorated high school football players in history, winning every national player of the year award, and was recruited by nearly every major college football program in the United States during the 2005-2006 school year. He played sparingly in his first game at Arkansas, but was named the starting quarterback by the second game of the season and achieved a record of 8–0 as a true freshman starter.

Since junior high school, Mustain has accumulated a record of 61–3 (.953) as a starting quarterback (9–1 in eighth grade in 2001, 9–0 in both ninth grade in 2002 and 10th grade in 2003, 12–1 in 11th grade in 2004, 14–0 in 12th grade in 2005, 8–0 as a freshman at Arkansas in 2006, 0–1 in 2010 at USC).

High school career

Mustain receiving the annual Hall Trophy from high school football legend Kenneth Hall.

By the time he left Southwest Junior High School, Mustain was already the object of high expectations; however he did not start for the Springdale High School varsity team until late in his sophomore season.^[1]

In 2004 as a junior, Mustain was 139-of-222 for 2,169 yards and 20 touchdowns as Springdale posted a 12–1 record and reached the Arkansas Class 5A semifinals. He threw only five interceptions in 222 attempts and rushed for 350 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In 2005 as a senior, Mustain threw for 3,817 yards (an Arkansas Class 5A single season record) and 47 touchdowns and completed 69.3 percent of his pass attempts. Springdale went undefeated with a record of 14–0 and won the Arkansas Class 5A state title, including three wins over nationally-ranked opponents and a No. 2 ranking in one national poll.

On January 7, 2006, Mustain was the starting quarterback for the West team in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, where he was awarded the Hall Trophy as National High School Player of the Year.

PARADE named him High School Player of the Year in its January 1, 2006 issue. He was then named Mr. Football in Arkansas by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He was also named the 2005–06 Gatorade National Player of the Year and the 2005 USA Today National Player of the Year, the first-ever from the state of Arkansas. Scout.com ranked him as the top high school recruit for the class of 2006.^[2] Mustain had told reporters he planned to play for either Notre Dame, Tennessee, Alabama or his home-state Arkansas Razorbacks.

Mustain was the top quarterback in the nation coming out of high school in 2006.^[3] In recognition of his accomplishments, Springdale Mayor Jerre Van Hoose declared December 6, 2005 "Mitch Mustain Day" in the city.^[4]

In December 2005, Gus Malzahn, Mustain's coach at Springdale, was hired to be the new offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas; this was widely taken to signal the Razorbacks willingness to shift their offense to adapt to Mustain's style of play.^[5] The hiring enabled the Razorbacks to recruit the highly-touted quarterback.^[6] On January 16, 2006, Mustain informed Malzahn of his decision to commit to Arkansas, but only after Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis opted to offer quarterback recruit Jimmy Clausen over Mustain.^[7]

College career

University of Arkansas (2006)

True freshman starter

Mustain enrolled at the University of Arkansas on July 10, 2006 and, in his first game on September 2, 2006, replaced starting quarterback Robert Johnson in the fourth quarter of an eventual 50–14 loss to the USC Trojans. He immediately put together an 80 yard touchdown drive against the Trojan defense. The following day, Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt named Mustain as the starting quarterback for the next game against Utah State, moving Johnson to wide receiver.

Mustain accumulated a record of 8–0 as a true freshman starter, including a 27–10 win on the road over the No. 2 ranked Auburn Tigers on October 7, 2006,^[8] helping guide the Razorbacks to 11th in the college football rankings.^[9] The offense was oriented around what was considered among the nation's best running back tandems, Darren McFadden (who would be the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy), Peyton Hillis, and Felix Jones; as a result, Mustain's statistics did not match his high school numbers in a more pass-oriented offense.^[1]

Change in status

A turning point occurred on November 4, 2006 in No. 11 Arkansas' 26–20 win over South Carolina, when Mustain was relieved after one series by sophomore Casey Dick, who led the Razorbacks for 228 yards and a touchdown.^[9] The day after the game, Dick was named the starting quarterback for an upcoming game against No. 13 Tennessee, with Coach Nutt citing "experience" as the primary reason for the change.^[9]

Mustain did not play in the next three games and entered for one series in the final game of the regular season, the SEC Championship game, on December 2, 2006, against the Florida Gators.^[10]

On December 20, 2006, Nutt announced that Dick would start for the Razorbacks in the January 1, 2007 Capital One Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers; however, he stated that Mustain would also enter the game in the third series.^[11][12] The game resulted in a 17–14 defeat for Arkansas.

Mustain finished the season with 894 yards passing, completing 69 out of 132 passes with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.^[13]

Transfer from Arkansas

On January 15, 2007, Gus Malzahn, the offensive coordinator and Mustain's former high school coach, announced he was leaving the Razorbacks to join the University of Tulsa.^[14] The day after Malzahn's announcement, January 16, 2007, Mustain requested permission to transfer to another university and it was, subsequently, granted by Coach Nutt.^[15] The announcement was a year to the day after Mustain had initially announced his decision to sign with the Razorbacks out of high school.^[6]

University of Southern California (2007-2010)

Sophomore (2007)

Mustain enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) on May 21, 2007.^[16] He joined his former Springdale High School and Arkansas teammate, Damian Williams, who had transferred to USC the previous January.

Under NCAA transfer rules, Mustain sat out the 2007 season and served as the quarterback for the scout team. On December 19, 2007, he was rewarded with the Service Team Player of the Year (offense) award at the Trojan football team's annual awards banquet.^[17]

Redshirt sophomore and junior seasons (2008–2009)

Mustain became eligible to play again for the 2008 season, with three years of eligibility remaining. During fall camp before the 2008 season, starter Mark Sanchez suffered a dislocated left kneecap while warming up for practice; the injury sidelined Sanchez and threw his availability for the season opener at Virginia (and beyond) into question. As a result, Mustain and redshirt freshman Aaron Corp began alternating repetitions with the first team offense and competing for the possible starting spot.^[18][19][20] After missing nearly three weeks, Sanchez was cleared to play in the opener on the final day of fall camp; Corp was selected as his back-up because he demonstrated a better command of the offense, however head coach Pete Carroll stated the competition for the back-up spot would continue through the season.^[21][22] The competition resulted in Mustain regaining the second spot for some games and Corp for others throughout the season.^[23]

At the end of the 2008 season, Sanchez opted to forgo his final season and enter the NFL Draft, leaving the competition for the starting position in the 2009 season open between Mustain, Corp, and in-coming true freshman Matt Barkley, who like the other two also received major accolades as a high school player.^[24] By the end of spring practices, Mustain was placed third in the order behind Corp and Barkley.

Despite being relegated to third-string, Mustain continued to persevere and even tried out at the punter position to try and contribute to the team. By mid-season, better results in practice, and after an injury to Barkley led to a disastrous outing by Corp as the starting quarterback, Mustain had climbed to the second position behind Barkley.^[25]

On February 1, 2011, Mustain was arrested on suspicion of selling prescription amphetamines after allegedly selling a substance he passed off as Adderall to an undercover officer. Eventually he entered into a pre-file community service program in order to avoid a more severe sentence.^[26][27]

Professional career

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Mustain went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, and signed a free agent contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League on June 1st, 2011.^[28] He was released by the Tiger-Cats on June 10th, 2011.^[29]

Georgia Force

On September 30, 2011, Mustain signed with the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League.^[30] He will compete with Darnell Kennedy and R.J. Archer for playing time at quarterback.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Wins most impressive stat for Arkansas' Mustain, Associated Press, October 24, 2006.
2. ^ Class of 2006 Football Recruiting Scout.com
3. ^ Stewart Mandel, Sanchez expected to continue USC's long line of excellence at QB, SI.com, April 18, 2008.
4. ^ Mustain Keeps Mum On Plans Scout.com, December 7, 2005.
5. ^ Mustain's mother issues statement on meeting, Associated Press, December 13, 2006.
6. ^ ^{a b} Mustain apparently passing on Malzahn-free Arkansas, Associated Press, January 17, 2007.
7. ^ Friend, Tom (2006-04-22). "Irish eyes attract Clausen to South Bend". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/news/story?id=2417732. 
8. ^ No. 2 no more: Auburn stunned at home by Arkansas, Associated Press, October 7, 2006.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Dick named starter for Arkansas, Associated Press, November 6, 2006.
10. ^ Mitch Mustain Stats, ESPN.com
11. ^ Nutt names Dick starter, but Mustain will play, Associated Press, December 20, 2006.
12. ^ Malzahn: Arkansas 'committed' to QB plan, Associated Press, December 30, 2006.
13. ^ 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks Football, Arkansas Game Results (FINAL): All games, hogwired.com
14. ^ Arkansas' Malzahn headed to Tulsa; Mustain next?, Associated Press, January 15, 2007.
15. ^ Mitch Mustain asks for transfer, Associated Press, January 16, 2007.
16. ^ Mustain will be eligible to play for USC in '08, Associated Press, May 21, 2007.
17. ^ Ellis, Davis Named USC's Co-Most Valuable Players, USCTrojans.com, December 20, 2007.
18. ^ Gary Klein, Mark Sanchez's knee injury muddies waters at USC, Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2008, Accessed August 11, 2008.
19. ^ Gary Klein, Mitch Mustain, Aaron Corp battle for starting spot, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2008, Accessed August 11, 2008.
20. ^ Ted Miller, QB intrigue continues at USC, ESPN.com, August 18, 2008, Accessed August 18, 2008.
21. ^ Gary Klein, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has uneven practice, is cleared to play, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2008, Accessed August 27, 2008.
22. ^ Gary Klein, Aaron Corp set to back up quarterback Mark Sanchez at USC, Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2008, Accessed August 29, 2008.
23. ^ Ted Miller, Report: Sanchez bolting for NFL -- so who's next?, ESPN.com, January 14, 2009, Accessed January 15, 2009.
24. ^ Ted Miller, Corp vs. Mustain vs. Barkley at USC, ESPN.com, January 15, 2009, Accessed January 15, 2009.
25. ^ Gary Klein, Mitch Mustain gets a kick out of being No. 2 quarterback for USC, Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2009, Accessed October 15, 2009.
26. ^ Pedro Moura, Mitch Mustain avoids felony charge, ESPN.com, February 3, 2011, Accessed February 3, 2011.
27. ^ LASD Inmate Information Center, [1], accessed February 1, 2011.
28. ^ Mustain signs with CFL team.
29. ^ Mustain released by CFL team.
30. ^ AFL Transactions September 2011

Further reading

• Voigt, Kurt (2007). Year of the Dog: One Year, One Team, One Goal. Las Vegas: Stephens Press. ISBN 978-1932173642. 

External links

• Mitch Mustain University of Southern California profile
• Mitch Mustain Scout.com profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Robert Johnson	Arkansas Razorbacks Starting Quarterbacks 2006	Succeeded by Casey Dick

Persondata
Name	Mustain
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 27, 1988
Place of birth	Fayetteville, Arkansas
Date of death
Place of death