Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/88420
Barnes is set to head to Philly at the end of the week, a short trip home instead of the long-term relocation he briefly considered last summer. Like many of his teammates in the wake of those sanctions, Barnes con- sidered his options, wondering what he would do if the early doomsday predictions for the program came to pass. "I was just thinking, if everybody leaves and there's nobody here, I might have to leave, too," he said. Temple has recruited him, and while he'd had more attractive offers out of high school, he wasn't eager to move far from home. Ultimately, like most of his team- mates, he chose not to contribute to a domino-effect exodus that never re- ally came. "Most of the guys stayed, my friends all stayed," Barnes said, "so there was no reason to leave at all." A few years from now, Barnes might well be one of the players whom Penn State fans recall most gratefully – not simply for sticking around, but for ex- celling in the process. Certainly the early signs are encouraging. His stats through the first half of the season were modest enough – 12 total tackles – but his impact was undeniably felt. Five of those were tackles for losses, including four sacks, and he forced a pair of fumbles. Beyond the numbers, he has a presence that belies his age and has distracted opposing quarter- backs all season long. "I know Larry Johnson probably gets mad because I talk about him so much, but Deion is a really good football player who has a huge future," O'Brien said after Barnes registered five tackles and a sack against Navy. "The way he gets off the football, uses his hands, the way he gets off the edge, the way he understands where the quarterback sets up and the way he tries to strip the ball shows his potential. As a young player trying to do that, you know he has a bright future." That's substantial progress for a kid who said he spent his true freshman season "begging" to play, but who says now, succinctly, "I wasn't ready." A year of mental and physical maturity appear to have paid off. "Everyone on the team knew he had talent—that was a definite," Massaro said earlier in the season. But it took learning be- hind the likes of Massaro and fellow end Sean Stanley, not to mention standout tackles like Devon Still and Jordan Hill, for Barnes to turn talent into game-changing ability. Predictably, his position coach had something to do with it, too. Johnson's reputation for churning out stud pass rushers is well established at Penn State, and there's every reason to be- lieve Barnes could be another star pupil. Barnes, who sees NFL All-Pro (and off-season Lasch workout regular) Tamba Hali as a role model, knows he's got a great teacher. "The main thing, I listened to Coach J more," Barnes said. "Coach Johnson tells me every time, even when I do good, that I'm not finished yet. He's coaching me right." Asked to grade his play through his first six games of college football, Barnes pondered only for a second. "I give myself about a C-plus," he said. "I missed a few sacks – the Temple game, I came wide open, the quarter- back saw me and stepped up, and I just swiped at him… the worst feel- ing." It's a sign of where things stand for the Lions at midseason that Barnes CAGED LION Massaro was knocked out of action by a shoulder injury he suffered at Virginia, but he hopes to be a bigger factor in the team's upcoming games.