Illinois State Lands Playmaking Transfer Quaterback

Former Iowa State quarterback, Jared Barnett, will transfer
to Illinois State and play for the Redbirds next season.
(Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Former Iowa State quarterback, Jared Barnett, who led the Cyclones to a 37-31 OT upset victory over #2 Oklahoma State in 2011 will transfer to Illinois State and play for the Redbirds next season. Barnett will fill an obvious void in the Illinois State lineup as Matt Brown, the 2012 Offensive Player of the Year is lost to graduation. This addition of an experienced and talented quarterback may give the Redbirds that added push they need to repeat their stellar 2012 campaign. So what does this addition look like on paper? You decide; Barnett's career stats: He completed 162 passes from 328 attempts during his first two years for 1825 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. That is better experience than any other quarterback on the Illinois State roster.

The talent gap from playing in the Big Twelve to the Missouri Valley Conference bodes well for Barnett, considering--of course, that he displayed periodical flashes of brilliance against Big Twelve foes; most notably (as stated previously) his three touchdown, 376 yard day he had against Oklahoma State in 2011. Of course, this type of transfer quarterback has happened before. Rhett Bomar transferred from Oklahoma to Sam Houston State in 2007 where he would end up breaking the school record for career passing yards (5,564) in two seasons. Joe Flacco transferred from Pittsburgh to Delaware in 2004, although, his situation might not be compatible with Bomar's or Barnett's; Flacco completed one pass during his tenure at Pittsburgh. I'm sure there are multiple more stories of BCS QB's dropping down to FCS schools and finding success; but it is late and I've mentioned the three I can think up off the top of my head--that should be good enough to make my point.

Another topic to note is that teams do not necessarily automatically become wildly successfully and turn into powerhouse teams overnight after they land a transfer like this. I'll continue with my Bomar-Flacco comparison. Bomar, who started 10 games with Oklahoma before being released from the Sooners led Sam Houston State 4-4 start in 2007 before going down in the Nicholls State game. In 2008, his last season, the Bearcats ended 4-6. Flacco, as most of you know, had an awesome career at Delaware and led them to the FCS National Championship game in 2007.

The most influential aspect for these transfers must come from the level of comfort and the confidence they have in fitting into the offensive playbook that already exists, in other words; coaching. How will Jared Barnett fit into the offensive style at Illinois State? Well, I've extensively seen both Iowa State and Illinois State play the past few seasons and it is clear the difference some confidence makes. For Cyclone fans, watching Iowa State try to run the ball is like hitting your head against a metal pole; it is literally painful. All of Iowa State's quarterbacks had trouble running the Cyclone offensive sets; because all of the pressure was on their back--the Cyclones had no balance. Although the stats will show you that Iowa State averaged 4.2 yards per rush attempt; consistency was nonexistent. On the contrary, Illinois State's offense has the ability to play smash-mouth football with alot of success. Now, Matt Brown stole the show, but Darrelynn Dunn quietly ran for 1000 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2012. With a steady, traditional, power-backfield, Jared Barnett could easily find the balance that allows him to blossom into a very, very effective quarterback.

Season finale catch-up

Similar to my blogging cohort, finals plus the trip to Frisco itself left me in blog-Purgatory and thus unable to give you the juicy, tender pontification you love so much. That said, here's a few thoughts on the season past, the repeat national champion, and what's in store for next year. First off, the Bison won with a very simple formula both in the playoffs and in their 39-13 walloping of Sam Houston State: ball control on offense, stinginess on defense. It's a point exemplified by the fact that the Bearkats started four of their first six drives, marking all of their possession of the ball in the first half, ahead of their own 25-yard line or better, yet the Bison got that same starting position just once in their first five series. Bell's mistakes in the game ultimately will go down as the catalyst for the second-straight championship-game loss for SHSU, but the Bison were so effective at choking them up anyway that it might not have mattered. Four interceptions certainly helped, though. The fact that the Bison stomped the Jackrabbits in the second round makes me wonder what the NCAA's attitude toward scheduling same-conference teams like that in the future. With the impending move to 24 teams coming up very soon, is regionalization going to be more of a factor in the playoffs? Good news for teams like Wofford whose small-school status lends itself to a poorly-traveling fan base (though credit to those fans that did show up for the NDSU-WC game), but it also means that playing conference mates, especially for teams west of the Mississippi, is a greater likelihood. I would cite the wild change in score from the first meeting of NDSU-SDSU to the second as evidence that a quality team can absolutely overcome the edge that a conference mate might have in a potential playoff scenario, but it had to have Coach Bohl just a little worried to play a team that knows NDSU so well in the team's first playoff game of the year. All that said, will that result encourage the committee to do more of the same in the future, or dissuade them? Or do they even care? Without much else to mash on at this point, here's my anticipatory rankings for the conference coming up next year. I'm not sure what we have planned for coverage during the off season, but doubtless one of us will make a post every so-often on something relevant, so keep your eyes peeled on here and by all means leave a comment somewhere if there's something you're curious about or want to see coverage on. Thanks for a great 2012! 1. North Dakota State 2. South Dakota State 3. Northern Iowa 4. Youngstown State 5. Indiana State 6. Southern Illinois 7. Illinois State 8. Western Illinois 9. South Dakota 10. Missouri State