MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With apologies to the instructional importance of spring practice, Jared Barber says he hasn’t played “a real football snap” in 21 months.
In the aftermath of a torn ACL, a post-surgical infection and a redshirt season, the fifth-year senior linebacker might be the most eager member of a West Virginia defense loaded with them.
Barber sat in the team room Tuesday sporting an ice pack on his right knee, the one injured in November 2013 during an overtime loss to Texas. Don’t read too much into the ice pack.
“It’s a little sore,” he said, “but it’s not like I have to limp or anything.”
Limping doesn’t compute, not when Barber is manning the Mike linebacker spot in the middle of the 3-3-5 stack defense. Not when last spring’s film reveals a player more mobile than the one we last saw in 2013 action.
“My speed, my agility, everything—I feel like it’s better than it was before the injury. I went back and watched film from two years ago. You can see now that I’m more athletic, faster and quicker than I was.” — West Virginia’s Jared Barber
“My speed, my agility, everything—I feel like it’s better than it was before the injury,” Barber said. “My knee is stronger than it’s ever been, that’s for sure. I went back and watched film from two years ago. You can see now that I’m more athletic, faster and quicker than I was.”
Perhaps his mind is quicker too.
Between weightlifting sessions and rehabbing the knee last season, Barber always made sure to watch practice from the end zone at Milan Puskar Stadium. Though not the best viewpoint for season-ticketholders, it allowed Barber to see everything he needed.
“Not just the linebackers,” he said. “I’d watch the safeties and the defensive line, too, to see all the pieces and how it all fits together.”
From cutting down the passing angles in coverage, to seeing where a help player arrives on run fits, Barber experienced a season-long refresher on the stack defense he played in high school and as a college freshman. That changed when Joe DeForest implemented the 3-4 in 2012 and when Keith Patterson ran a similar defense in 2013.
Those defenses ranked 112th and 102nd in the FBS, allowing 472.8 yards and 454.4 yards respectively. So last season’s climb to 68th nationally (399.4 yards) seemed refreshing by comparison, even if Barber could only watch the progress.
“In the 3-4 that Coach Patterson ran, you had to read off things, stack and scrape. I didn’t really like the scraping and being-patient thing,” he said.
Under second-year coordinator Tony Gibson, the scheme has been simplified. “All you’ve got to do is work your butt off, be extremely aggressive, be disciplined and play downhill,” said Barber.
Under Patterson, Arizona State’s defense actually allowed more points and yards per game than West Virginia last season. The Sun Devils more than compensated by forcing 27 turnovers, whereas WVU netted only 13.
Even as Gibson and Dana Holgorsen emphasize forcing more takeaways, Barber knows that’s not about schematic adjustments or changes in technique.
“If you play hard, play fast and play with relentless effort, turnovers will happen,” he said. “You make your own luck with pursuit and effort. It comes down to do you have players who want to get to the ball and get to the ball with bad intentions?”
Some 21 months removed from his most recent game, Barber has intentions of getting to the ball often. Teamed with fellow seniors Nick Kwiatkoski and Shaq Petteway, he’s the centerpiece in the Big 12’s most experienced linebacking unit.
“Me, Kwit and Shaq are the starters and we plan on playing as many snaps as possible,” Barber said. “We don’t plan on coming off the field.”