By Lilly Donahue | Indiana University
When Blake Barnett got the starting nod for Alabama’s season opener against USC, Bama fans assumed he’d take the reins and lead the Tide to another title. But then Nick Saban realized that the Tide offense looked a bit too much like LSU (in that they only score field goals, not TD’s) and decided to pull the 5 star recruit in favor of true freshman Jalen Hurts. Hurts overcame a fumble of his first play to lead the Tide to an absolute ass-whipping of USC. Barnett, like most of America, has come to the realization that Hurts will have to play like Brandon Harris (or any LSU QB for that matter) in order to get benched. So, like all unsatisfied 5 star prospect, he’s decided to hit the market. Barnett announced his intentions to spend the rest of this season at a JUCO school so he can play after only 4 games next year. Here are 8 landing spots for Barnett: 5 that are realistic, and 3 that I’d just LOVE to watch play out.
Sc’o Ducks?
247Sports’ crystal ball predictor actually expected Barnett to attend Oregon over Bama. Oregon would be a heck of a lot closer to Barnett’s hometown of Corona, CA, and much more convenient for his fiance Maddie Peterson, who is a professional surfer. The Ducks also are not exactly stacked in terms of the QB positions, and would definitely be open to giving Barnett a shot at returning the Ducks to the glory of the Mariota Era.
Fight On?
Barnett is from California, which is one of the main selling points for all the other schools on this list. USC might be in an ideal place for a transfer QB at this point, because they’re not exactly flourishing, but they’re also not bottom-up. Barnett could sweep in and bring the program back to the top, and USC is not a bad place to be for a potential NFL QB. The problems with Trojan QBs start in the NFL, not the college level.
Luck Part 2?
Keeping with the California trend, Stanford is the premier program in the state at this point. Their academic reputation is one of, if not the, best in the nation. And they aren’t too shabby at football either. Stanford hasn’t had an all-star QB since Andrew Luck (although Kevin Hogan was very capable), and Barnett has the tools to be great. The Cardinal’s current QB situation is nothing special, and if Barnett were to play after 4 game next year, can you imagine a Barnett-McCaffrey backfield? (I can hear Lee Corso screaming in the background)
Heir to Aaron?
If you’re a QB, what better place to be than Cal? In their pass-first, then pass again offense, amassing 4,000 plus yards is a breeze. The program has a lot of young talent, and it’s worth noting that the current starter, Davis Webb, will be gone after this season, so the starting job would be wide open for Barnett to fill.
Bruin Revolution?
This scenario is most likely the one that will pick up the most traction. Barnett would have to accept sitting out for a whole season to allow Josh Rosen (the Golden Boy) to play out his junior year, but after Rosen is drafted #1 overall by one of the cellar dwellers (probably Cleveland), the spotlight will be open for Barnett. UCLA is well-stocked with talented athletes and has a pretty solid coach in Jim Mora. Barnett could truly embrace his role as the Cali QB and possibly help UCLA to a Pac-12 title.
Now for a few unlikely cases:
Aubie?
Now let’s just make this clear, all the schools on this list are extremely unlikely, and have about the same chances as a two loss team getting into the playoffs: not unheard of, but very unlikely. Barnett to auburn would be fueled mostly by a desire for revenge, but in this case Barnett would be cutting off his nose to spite his face (s/o to my 10th grade English teacher #idiomsordie). But can you imagine how wild the Iron Bowl would be???? Instead of the snoozefest of whoever Auburn threw out there at QB throwing picks, we might have an actual game!
Gig Em?
Kevin Sumlin’s squad is by far exceeding expectation this year, and could be a threat to the Tide. The program was gutted of its QBs due to the transfers of Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen, but this could work in Barnett’s favor. He’d be able to swoop in to a team full of talented players like Christian Kirk without much opposition in the QB race. Plus, he’d get to face off against Bama every year…maybe this isn’t such a stretch after all? #BarneyFootball
Michigan/OSU?
Who wouldn’t want to see this? Barnett under the tutelage of either Harbaugh or Meyer would not only build him into a better QB, but also intensify the rivalry between Saban and his competitors….. Barnett would be foolish to go to either school however, since both programs have loaded 2017 QB recruits coming in, and it’d be awfully embarrassing to be beaten out by a frosh twice in a row. But I’m sure Meyer and Harbaugh both wouldn’t mind having Barnett in the mix!