| | RALEIGH -- When Jamie Barnette arrived at North Carolina
State five years ago, he was a raw quarterback who had trouble
setting his feet. Soon he will be firmly planted in the Atlantic
Coast Conference record book.
| |  | | Jamie Barnett was encouraged to switch positions early in his career. |
After passing for 3,169 yards last season, the senior needs
2,475 yards to break the all-time ACC passing mark of 9,614 set by
Duke's Ben Bennett in the early 1980s.
Bennett, now a Duke assistant coach, smiles when asked about the
possibility of his 16-year-old record falling and talks fondly of
Barnette.
"Jamie Barnette has been a tough player, and a solid little
player for a long time," Bennett said this week. "One of the big
keys to that record is not so much putting up big numbers one year,
but you have to be tough, which will give you some longevity. And
you have to be good over a long period of the time and he has done
that.
"Would I like to stay on top forever? Absolutely, but records
are made to be broken. I think Jamie Barnette is a great
quarterback."
If the durable Barnette can avoid injury, he could become the
league's first 10,000-yard passer. That would be quite a feat for
an undersized 6-footer who was at first steered away from the QB
position by Wolfpack coach Mike O'Cain.
Barnette didn't play much until his senior season at Roxboro
High School, partially because he threw the ball too hard.
"In the ninth, 10th and 11th grades I didn't have any touch,"
Barnette said. "It was more heat. From 5 yards away I would try to
drill you. That was the reason I didn't play. Over the years I have
worked on that."
And a host of other things.
O'Cain recalled recruiting Barnette because he had a good arm
and appeared athletic. But when Barnette arrived on the N.C. State
campus in 1995, O'Cain and the other coaches shook their heads
after the first few practices, wondering if they were wrong.
Barnette's quarterback skills were severely lacking because he
had played prep ball in the run-and-shoot offense, never having to
take drop steps and set up in the pocket.
"When we got him to N.C. State he was not like what we had ever
had before," O'Cain said. "He had a very difficult time dropping
back five steps or seven steps and throwing from the pocket. He
didn't know how to set his feet.
"It took some time to develop. I made the statement that I
didn't think he would ever play quarterback for us."
The Wolfpack coaches were so discouraged that they tried to
switch him to wide receiver or defensive back. But Barnette was too
slow.
"I didn't run the time the coaches wanted me to run in order to
put me somewhere else," Barnette said of his 4.8-second 40-yard
dash. "Thank God I didn't because things have worked out. I'm not
sure what time they were looking for. It never crossed my mind to
ask."
So it was back to quarterback for Barnette. O'Cain decided to
use him as a practice player or as protection in case other
Wolfpack QBs were injured.
But it wasn't too long before Barnette was under live fire when
second-stringer Colin Harris was kicked off the team and starter
Jose Laureano was suspended. That forced O'Cain to start Barnette
as a redshirt freshman against highly ranked Alabama in the middle
of the 1996 season.
"To me, the coaches didn't show it in their eyes that they were
terrified, but I also knew there was a little fear in everybody,
throwing a redshirt freshman out there," Barnette said. "I could
feel they were worried, but they never showed it."
Barnette threw for 260 yards as the Wolfpack almost upset the
eighth-ranked Crimson Tide 24-19. Barnette has been in the lineup
ever since and has developed into one of the nation's most feared
big-play QBs.
"When you see Jamie in practice you don't see that polished,
technical guy," O'Cain said. "But when you put him in a game
system you see a guy who is going to make things happen and is a
fierce competitor. That is the thing that has made him so good."
He also has an uncanny ability to stay in the pocket, O'Cain
said. "He'll let the pocket collapse around him and then throw the
ball, or if the pocket is collapsing to get out of there and keep
the pass alive and throw the ball downfield, or to become a
runner," O'Cain said. "Those things you don't coach."
After teaming with NFL first-rounder Torry Holt last season,
Barnette is now ranked first in N.C. State history in total offense
(7,295), passing yards (7,141), touchdown responsibility (56) and
TD passes (46). He also holds single-season records for total
offense (3,182) and TD passes (19).
Some wonder how Barnette will fare without the spectacular Holt
to throw to.
"Torry Holt was good, but Jamie Barnette is great," said Duke
wide receiver Scottie Montgomery. " ... He will rise to supremacy.
A lot of people give a lot of his credit to Torry, which was right
because Torry was a senior, but this year when he starts to spread
the ball around they will start to see how really good he is."
Barnette's first test will come Saturday at No. 17 Texas. But
Barnette is used to performing in big games. He and his Wolfpack
teammates upset No. 2 Florida State and No. 11 Syracuse within a
three-week period last year.
"I am not going to say I am known across the country, but they
know me as far as beating Florida State -- and that speaks for
itself," Barnette said. "New York probably knows me, too."
| |
ALSO SEE
ACC: Taking to the skies
North Carolina State
 |
