UB to see a great deal of Barnes
When Dave Clawson went through his first offseason conditioning and spring football workouts as coach at Bowling Green, he discovered something early: Freddie Barnes is the Falcons' best player.
So Clawson built an entire offense around the senior wide receiver.
"Our offensive staff does a great job of being creative at getting him the ball in a lot of different ways," said Clawson, who starred at Lewiston-Porter in the '80s. "We've kind of designed the offense to run through him."
Kinda? Bowling Green runs the wildcat package with Barnes behind center, they throw screens to him, in addition to being the focal point in the passing game.
"He's sharp and understands the game," Clawson said. "He's a good football player."
Good? Barnes leads the country in receptions with 99, 32 more than the next leading receiver. He's also tops in receptions per game (12.4), receiving yards (1,054), receiving yards per game (131.8) and second in receiving touchdowns (nine). At this rate if Barnes doesn't win the coveted Biletnikoff Award there should be an investigation.
"He's the leading receiver in the country and I think there is a reason for that," Boise State coach Chris Peterson said.
And Barnes had his lowest output of the season against Boise. But two games later against Kent State he went for 278 yards on 22 receptions and three touchdowns. The next game, he lit up Ball State for 160 yards, 10 catches and three TDs, and against Central Michigan (14 receptions, 172 yards and one TD) it was more of the same.
"It's surprising," Barnes said. "I know I'm a large part of the offense but I never know what I'm going to end up with by the end of the day. It's always a mystery to me."
A mystery? When the University at Buffalo faces Barnes and Bowling Green on Tuesday night, the Bulls have to know where he is at all times. No mystery there.
"God has blessed me every step of the way by helping me and my teammates put some points on the board," Barnes said. "We're in the hunt for a bowl game and that's the first thing on my mind. It's good to see that I lead the nation and all that, but that's not the main thing that I'm focused on. Coach told me he expected certain things from me and [quarterback] Tyler [Sheehan]. My workouts in the winter and summer were geared towards that."
Barnes ran to the stadium from his home before lifting, did speed work to drop his 40-yard dash down and ran routes daily. Bowling Green's jug machine would often hum into the night as he made sure he caught at least 500-750 passes weekly.
"I was doing any and everything to get better," said Barnes, who runs a 4.62. "It's paying off. I'm not blazing, but I get the job done."
What's even more amazing about Barnes is that he injured his left MCL early last season that caused him to miss three games. He came back against UB late in the season and injured his right MCL. So in addition to trying to improve his game, Barnes had to rehab both knees.
During this offseason, he plans to boost up his workouts even more for a shot at the NFL.
"I'm pretty sure I'll have an opportunity but I'm not getting my hopes high," he said. "Coming from Bowling Green and not having a great season my junior year, people are going to be skeptical about my ability. Whatever opportunity I have, I'm going to be grateful."
Skeptical? That isn't likely.
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