2003–2005 Although he entered USC as a highly regarded quarterback prospect, Booty spent his first three years at USC as the back-up to eventual
Heisman Trophy winner
Matt Leinart, who had replaced former Heisman winner
Carson Palmer. When he arrived at USC, the competition for the starting quarterback in the 2003 season had not seen any particular player separating himself from the pack, so when Matt Leinart was eventually chosen as the starter there was some question as to whether he would merely hold the starting position until Booty could learn the offense. Booty earned the spot as the number two quarterback as a freshman, but had to
redshirt his second season after suffering an elbow injury in August 2004. When Leinart opted to stay for his final year at USC, there were questions as to whether Booty would transfer to a different school. He opted to remain at USC. Booty had back surgery to repair a bulging
disc in his spine at the end of March 2006, but fully recovered and earned the starting spot for the 2006 season.
2006 Booty entered the 2006 season as a
redshirt junior. At the beginning of the 2006 season, Booty was one of fifteen players on the official watch list for the
Maxwell Award for the best player in college football, although the list states that it "may change without notice based on performance ... during the 2006 season and is not designed to represent an all-inclusive listing of eligible candidates for the collegiate football awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club." In the 2006 season, Booty was ranked the tenth best quarterback in college football and the number one quarterback in the Pac-10 by
Rivals.com. He started all of the games for the
USC Trojans at quarterback in 2006 and was named to the rivals.com and Pacific-10 conference coaches 2006 All-Pac-10 team First-team. Booty led the Trojans to a victory over Michigan in the
2007 Rose Bowl, throwing for 391 yards and four touchdowns.
2007 Booty chose to return for the 2007 season, foregoing the
NFL draft. Rivals.com named him one of the top-10 quarterbacks going into the 2007 season,
Sports Illustrated as one of the "Top 20 Players Heading into 2007," and he was considered a front-runner for the 2007
Heisman Trophy. Booty was a 2007 pre-season All-American for Athlon,
The Sporting News, and Blue Ribbon and was on the 2007 Maxwell Award and
Manning Award watch list. In the summer before the season, he worked out with
Indianapolis Colts quarterback
Peyton Manning. On October 6, Booty suffered a broken finger in his throwing hand during a
24–23 loss to
Stanford. He sat out the following three games before returning as the starting quarterback against
Oregon State on November 3. On his return, the Trojans finished the season 5–0 and outscored opponents 165–68, culminating in a victory in the
2008 Rose Bowl, a sixth straight Pac-10 title and making the Trojans the first college football team to achieve six straight 11-win seasons. In leading the Trojans to a 49–17 Rose Bowl victory over the
Illinois Fighting Illini, Booty set a Rose Bowl record with seven career touchdowns (in the 2007 and 2008 games) and was chosen as the Offensive MVP. Booty ended his career at USC with a 9–0 record against top-25 teams.
College statistics ==Professional career==