Orange County Register

USC quarterback Mitch Mustain finally revealed the mystery behind his erratic arm strength. Well, sort of.

Mustain disclosed Tuesday that he spent time this summer working with Mission Viejo High coach and QB guru Bob Johnson on his mechanics, which were out of whack and affecting Mustain’s velocity.

Mustain described the issue as “something that I felt like was bothering me. Nothing as far as pain, but stuff that I could tell was out of the ordinary and had been for a while. I finally took this summer to get it fixed. I think it helped a lot.

“I had trouble getting it to fly like I had in the past. (It was) pretty easy to correct.”

Of course, that doesn’t explain Mustain’s inconsistent play during training camp and leading up to the past few weeks, when he made his move on Aaron Corp for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Matt Barkley.

Maybe this does:

“Really after that (working with Johnson), it was getting an opportunity to put it to use. I’ve had that opportunity the last couple weeks and kind of maxed out on it.”

It’s a valid point: As the third-stringer, Mustain was getting hardly any reps.

Now he is, as they say, “one play away” from the most meaningful snaps of his USC career.

“It happened with Mark (Sanchez) last year. It’s happened to Matt this year. It could happen again,” Mustain said. “I’m going to prepare and be ready to go if something happens.”

More from the USC blog:

• USC football: Slip and slide? That’s Carroll being Carroll
• USC football: The rise and fall of Aaron Corp
• USC football: Carroll isn’t sorry about the weather
• USC football: Armstead has the inside track
• USC football: Stafon Johnson gets to go home
• USC basketball: So, about that NCAA probe …
• USC football: Marc Tyler could be out for the year
• USC football: Stafon Johnson released Wednesday?
• USC football: Clausen’s toe continues to improve
• USC football: Does Carroll see a little of himself in this DB?
• Truth, Lies and Neuheisel

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