QB Barnes is a big lift for Wildcats

OGDEN — It was, without much debate required, a position of disaster.

Weber State's quarterback situation was changing on a weekly basis. Wildcat coaches had a hard time settling on one player — naming a new starter three times in the season and never allowing the passing game to develop any consistency — and the result was an ineffective offense that relied on a freshman running back to carry the load.

This year, WSU coach Ron McBride said, there are no such worries.

"We've got the position secured," McBride said. "I'm not worried about it at all."

He certainly couldn't have said that just a couple of months ago. Ian Pizarro and Shawn Woods had both graduated and the heir-apparent for the starting job, Brad Leggat, had just quit the team.

"I was getting worried," McBride said. "When he quit, we had just about nothing."

Enter Jimmy Barnes.

The sophomore transfer from Alabama, where he played sparingly as a freshman before leaving amid a coaching change, arrived in Ogden during the summer and made an immediate impact on the team. From

demanding his receivers and teammates join him for conditioning and passing drills, to breaking down film for hours on end, Barnes has made a quick impression.

"He brings the best out of me," redshirt freshman quarterback Cameron Higgins said. "He's always showing me how I can do something better or a way to make the team better."

Though Barnes is not the official starter, it's clear the position is his to lose. In addition to Higgins, the Wildcats have a pair of junior college transfers, Brendon Doyle and Anthony Andre, that round out the depth chart.

Weber State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin McGiven is giving everyone on the roster a shot to earn the starting position. That means Barnes will have to prove himself despite his big-program pedigree.

"We didn't promise him anything," McGiven said. "We told him he'd have to earn everything he gets here."

That's something the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder from Los Alamitos, Calif., is perfectly happy to accept.

With Higgins the only quarterback to have any experience at all with the Wildcats, Barnes said he recognizes each have their own unique strengths.

"We both do things in different styles," Barnes said. "He does some things that I just can't do."