Game 3 Player to Watch: Blake Barnett
MATCHUP: USF (2-0) vs. Illinois (2-0)
WHEN: Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: Big Ten Network,
CHANNEL FINDER
Bay Area channel listings - Dish: 590 (HD: 5445); Hopper: 405-4; DirectTV: 610-1 (SD/HD); AT&T: 694 (HD: 1694); Verizon Fios: 330; Frontier Vios: 330; Spectrum: 820 (1192 HD)
USF GAME NOTES (PDF)
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 14, 2018 – While his teammates call him "Pops," new starting quarterback
Blake Barnett is proving to be the complete package in his first season at USF.
After becoming a loving husband, father and college graduate by the age of 22, Barnett has fit right into the USF football family and flourished during the Bulls' 2-0 start.
"He's very poised back there and just gives that extra confidence to the offense," said senior receiver
Tyre McCants (Niceville, Fla.).
Barnett's even-keeled mentality will come in handy Saturday, when USF goes after its fifth straight victory over a Power Five foe against Illinois (2-0) at Soldier Field, the historic home of the Chicago Bears.
"I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be our first game on the road here," Barnett said. "It's a Power Five team, so it's going to be a good challenge."
Up to this point, there doesn't seem to be a task too tall for 6-foot-5 Barnett to handle on the field, or in life.
Barnett produced four scores in each of the Bulls' first two games of the season, only about four months after first arriving at USF as a transfer from Arizona State. Prior to leaving ASU, Barnett got married to pro surfer Maddie Peterson and graduated with a degree in liberal studies before welcoming his son, Brooks, into the world in March.
"Having a kid and having a wife, I don't really have a choice to be mature or not be mature by the time I go home," Barnett said. "I just have to carry that over in the field and in the locker room."
Since moving across the country in May, life has moved at a rapid-fire pace for Barnett, much like USF's up-tempo offense he's handled well. Immersing himself in the playbook, even on late nights with the baby, hard-working Barnett won the starting job with his consistency in fall camp. He won his teammates' trust with his character.
"I think Blake's presence here has really helped this football team," head coach
Charlie Strong said. "You get a guy like Blake, who came in and guys have just really taken him in. He's not arrogant, he's not cocky, he's just one of them. I think when guys see that in him, being a quarterback, then it kind of just sprinkles through the whole team."
Barnett also has turned into a go-to leader for the offense thanks to his veteran presence in the huddle and his playmaking ability once the ball is snapped.
In his first start since taking Alabama's first snap of the 2016 season, Barnett produced the most points ever by a USF quarterback in a debut. Barnett's threw three touchdown tosses, rushed for another score and his 305 passing yards were just 6 yards shy of matching the debut record by a USF QB.
Last week, Barnett threw two more touchdowns passes and used his sneaky scrambling skills to run for 86 yards and two more scores. Barnett's heroic efforts helped the Bulls rally back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter with 21 unanswered points against Georgia Tech, earning him
plenty of national praise.
"It's just learning every week and trying to get better," Barnett said. "I'm going against different defenses, running a little bit different plays and just adapting to what we think will be successful for the opposing team. Coach (Sterlin) Gilbert has done an awesome job of helping me and so has the team, too."
Heading into the Bulls' second-ever clash with Illinois, Barnett ranks eighth nationally in points responsible for (24.0 per game), 21
st in total offense (314.5 ypc) and leads all USF rushers with 117 yards on 23 attempts (5.1 ypc). He's also dished out touchdown passes to five different receivers and motivated the whole offensive group with his grit.
"He never really yells or gets angry. He wants the best to happen," McCants said. "If that's not happening, he knows how to calm the team down. He knows how to get us rolling."
Saturday is a chance for Barnett to add another impressive chapter to his "journey" that's taken him a long way since his five-star prospect days at Santiago High School in California.
"It's been a long journey and a process," Barnett said. "Being able to play out there and play with these guys that I truly, truly care about, and being able to look (from) the field and see my baby is really cool, too."
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
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