Blake Austin Barnett (born December 24, 1995) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

South Florida Bulls football The South Florida Bulls football team represents the University of South Florida. The Bulls began playing in 1997 and compete in the American Athletic Conference (The American) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) within the National Collegiat ...

team. He previously played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

and the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

Early years

Barnett attended Santiago High School in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for Santiago High School and was rated as a five-star recruit and was ranked among the top players in his class. He committed to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

to play college football under head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

. During his high school career, Barnett threw for 5,921 yards on 419 passes. He led the Santiago Sharks to round 2 of the CIF playoffs where they faced Upland high. Barnett and the Sharks came up short losing 29-30, ending his high school career.

College career

Barnett redshirted his first year at Alabama in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. Barnett entered his redshirt freshman season in 2016 as Alabama's starting quarterback, but lost the job to true freshman

Jalen Hurts Jalen Alexander Hurts (born August 7, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his first three seasons of college football at Alabama, where he was part of the team t ...

before halftime of the opening game against the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. On September 28, 2016, AL.com’s Matt Zenitz reported that Barnett had left the team and had decided to transfer from the

. On December 5, 2016, Barnett announced that he was transferring to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. After leaving Alabama and prior to transferring to Arizona State, Barnett immediately enrolled at

Palomar College Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these by student p ...

, which made him eligible to play for Arizona State in

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. However, he was expected to be ineligible for the first four games of the 2017 season because he transferred from Alabama after four games into the 2016 season. Barnett appealed to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

for immediate eligibility and on January 31, 2017, the NCAA ruled in favor of Barnett. After being cleared to play immediately by the NCAA, Barnett was expected to be a strong contender to start right away at Arizona State, but incumbent starter

Manny Wilkins Manny Wilkins Jr. (born November 5, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. He played college football for Arizona State. After going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft he signed with the Green Bay Pack ...

won the quarterback derby and held onto his starting job. Barnett attempted only five passes during the 2017 season as the backup quarterback. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, under new head coach

Herm Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...

, Barnett was spending most sessions during the spring battling

Dillon Sterling-Cole Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) *Dillon (given name) * Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer *Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland Places Canada *Dillon, Saskatchewan United States *Dillon Beach, California ...

for the backup quarterback job behind Wilkins. On April 25, 2018, it was reported that Barnett intended to transfer from Arizona State. Barnett reportedly informed Arizona State his intention to transfer soon after the Arizona State spring game held on April 13. On May 8, 2018, it was reported that Barnett was transferring to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. On May 18, 2018, USF announced the addition of Barnett as a graduate transfer.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

Arizona State Sun Devils bio

USF Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Blake 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Corona, California Players of American football from San Bernardino County, California American football quarterbacks Alabama Crimson Tide football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players South Florida Bulls football players