Bowling Green State University Athletics
Poise Key for BGSU QB
August 15, 2006 | Football
Aug. 13, 2006
By MAUREEN FULTON, Blade Sports Writer -
Blade story in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
BOWLING GREEN - In his daydreams, and those silent moments of solitude before he drifts to sleep, Freddie Barnes repeats the word. Poise, gotta have poise.
He has memories of No. 4 doing it so well, he became a star. But right now all No. 14 has is imagination.
Nerves, bewilderment and uncertainty are normal before any debut, and in college football, these are only magnified.
Then there's the situation gripping Barnes, Bowling Green State University's redshirt freshman quarterback. Make that BGSU's redshirt freshman opening-day starter, No. 14.
In baseball, the opening-day starter named in spring training is the most talented and experienced ace. In the Falcons' training camp, Barnes is part project, part stopgap.
BGSU coach Gregg Brandon and his assistants love the 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete's potential, so much so that they fought over which position he could be most effective at when he arrived on campus from Chicago Heights, Ill., last year. But they hardly could have imagined that they'd be taking the wraps off him Sept. 2 against Wisconsin under the hot lights at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Barnes is the likely starter against Wisconsin because sophomore Anthony Turner, who won the job in the spring, will be serving a one-game suspension after being cited for possession of marijuana (the charge was later reduced to disorderly conduct).
The Falcons have two true freshman quarterbacks in camp, Tyler Sheehan and Anthony Glaud, but neither has the experience Barnes gained on scout team last year and in spring practices. Both are candidates to be redshirted as well.
Brandon, quarterbacks coach Mick McCall and even Turner are working with Barnes to help him as much as possible for his first start. On his own, Barnes prepares by recalling conversations between he and last year's starter, Omar Jacobs.
"His main thing was, he never dwelled on anything that was bad," Barnes said. "If things did start going wrong, the next play he forgot it. That's what a quarterback is supposed to do."
If Jacobs hadn't left school a year early for the NFL, Barnes wouldn't be in this situation, or possibly even at this position. When he first came to BGSU, coaches thought he would be an asset at receiver, among other spots.
But they couldn't pull the trigger.
"He had such a nice spring, and really last fall on the scout team he showed some flashes that he can run this offense," Brandon said. "We were kind of reluctant to say, 'Hey go to receiver, go to defense.'
"With Omar going out it kind of solidified that. If Omar would have come back it might have given us a little more flexibility with Freddie that way. That kind of put us a little bit in a hole.
"Freddie deserves a shot at quarterback. We'll give him every opportunity. If he does end up playing receiver, or running back or something, that's something we'll have to continue to evaluate."
Barnes came to BGSU with golden legs and an in-progress throwing arm.
Brandon compares his quarterbacking style to former Kent State star Josh Cribbs, a run-first creator. Barnes and Turner worked together on passing this summer - "He's making his reads a lot quicker," Turner said - although Brandon said he has to continue to improve.
The two started preseason camp splitting time with the No. 1 offense. Brandon has said Turner, who threw for two touchdowns and rushed for three in two starts last season, won the starting quarterback job in spring practices.
When Turner returns from his suspension, "We've got to figure out a way to get them both on the field," Brandon said.
Barnes is looking at the season opener less as an awkward situation and more as an opportunity. His teammates have noticed.
"He really kind of surprised me, I didn't think he would take on such a leadership role so early," center Kory Lichtensteiger said. "If we're doing a drill, he's going to keep everyone going the right way, which is pretty impressive to me. I was happy to see that we have somebody else coming up that could take on a role like that."
Brandon is more immediately concerned with Barnes' on-field execution as he begins his career.
"The best thing for a young player to do is to shut up and make plays," Brandon said with a smile. "Once he demonstrates that, then he can develop into the vocal leader."
When Barnes visualizes Sept. 2 on his own time, he also recalls reality, how Jacobs' debut as a starter, at big, bad Oklahoma in 2004, turned out fine.
"I'm trying to be poised, not act like a freshman on the field, all jittery and nervous," Barnes said. "I'm trying to take some of Omar's poise and confidence into Wisconsin."
