Penn State Sports Magazine
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Deion Barnes emerges as Penn State's most dangerous pass rusher COMING-OUT PARTY NATE BAuER | N B A U E R@B L U EWH I T E O N L I N E . C O M In conversation, Deion Barnes speaks at a leisurely pace, taking in a question before slowly formulating a response. Everything else about the Nittany Lions' redshirt freshman defensive end, though, can be categorized as the opposite: quick. The start of his career at Penn State, the building of attention from coaches, teammates, fans and media, and his ability to track down an opposing quarterback at high speeds, all fall into the latter category. "I just think Deion Barnes is a good player," head coach Bill O'Brien said following Barnes' outstanding per- formance against Navy. "I know Larry [Johnson] probably gets mad at me a lot because I talk about him so much, but he is a really good football player that has a huge future." After redshirting last season, Barnes has already become a force, earning Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors for his efforts against the Mid- shipmen. Barnes racked up his third sack of the year, his second forced fumble on a critical fourth down, and a season-high five tackles. Said defensive tackle Jordan Hill, "I think that last week was definitely his coming-out party. That's all he needed. He's a really good player and has a lot of potential. Scouts are looking for him, and I can't wait to see him throughout his whole career." His redshirt year, Barnes said, is part of the reason why he's burst onto the scene this season. "I'm recognizing what's happening [on the field] more," he said. "Coming from that year off, I got to see certain pass sets from tackles, so that defi- nitely helped me to see what I could do against certain tackles." What Barnes has done, and hopes to continue doing, mainly involves putting pressure on opposing quar- terbacks. Through three games, S E P T E M B E R John Beale EYES ON THE PRIZE Barnes, the team leader in sacks, has come on strong during his redshirt fresh- man season, and people are noticing. "Scouts are looking for him," teammate Jordan Hill said. Barnes has become a force, leading the Nittany Lions in sacks (3.0) and tackles for loss (3.0) while causing a team-high two fumbles. (Both came against Virginia and Navy quarter- backs in key situations.) "Coach [Johnson] always teaches with every drill to finish and always strip [the ball]," Barnes said. "Courses turn and change throughout the game. I want to be able to do that. Whenever I have a play, I'm going for the ball." Having put extra time and effort be- hind the scenes this off-season, Barnes said it was only a matter of time before he and some of his tal- ented sophomore teammates man- aged to make an impact on this year's squad. "In the off-season, when there was lifting in the morning, we would all go over in the afternoon and be able to do some extra work by ourselves," he said. "We'd try to work on our craft. 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 11 The way we developed in summer camp, it's crazy because we all knew this would happen. [But] we didn't know it would happen this fast." Barnes added that some of his pass rushing technique comes from paying close attention to former Penn State defensive end Tamba Hali, now star- ring in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs. O'Brien, a veteran of the coaching ranks in the NFL, has seen plenty of Hali himself. He recently made the comparison between the two players. Said O'Brien, "If you've coached in the National Football League, you know what a good pass rusher looks like – like a Tamba Hali, like a DeMar- cus Ware. I'm not saying [Barnes] is there yet, but the way he gets off the football, he uses his hands. The way he gets off the edge, the way he under- stands where the quarterback sets up and the way he tries to strip the ball shows his potential." B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M