MORGANTOWN — It was easy to get caught up in the aura that was cast off by the performances of Garrett Greene, Jaheim White and Zach Frazier turned in during West Virginia’s dominating victory over Cincinnati last weekend and forget that they stood out not alone in the film room.
True, it was hard to pass over Greene’s performance at quarterback that won him a national Quarterback of the Week Award or White’s 204-rushing yards and 75-yard touchdown connection with Greene in the passing game that got him named a national Freshman of the Week.
And while hardly as noticeable, considering that it took film study to verify it, Frazier had another All-American performance at center as, going head to head with Cincinnati’s best player and maybe the best defensive lineman in the country, he graded out at 95% with 10 great blocks with two knockdowns.
But there were others and West Virginia’s coaches opted to single in on senior Jared Bartlett, the Bandit. That is not a nickname, although maybe it should be considering his performance, but instead, it is the position he plays in the defense.
If it went mostly unnoticed among those who follow the ball, it did not among those who break down and analyze the film.
“Jared probably played his best football game since he’s been here,” defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said.
And that was saying a mouthful since Bartlett has been at WVU since 2019 and was playing productively in his 48th game, including a three-sack performance when WVU beat No. 15 Virginia Tech, 27-21, in 2021.
This is not to say that he reached the magnitude reached by Greene, White and Frazier, but it is to say that sometimes those who pay their money and sit in the seats or watch on television often miss out on some magnificent football going on in areas upon which they are not focusing their attention.
We, you see, have become somewhat Pavlavian in our response to the stat sheets that come out after a game, salivating when we see a 200-yard rushing game or three touchdowns run for or replayed catches or tackles.
There is, you see, an unseen game going on and certainly an underappreciated game that every so often is singled out for praise from the coaches.
“A lot of times, you can play a good game and not necessarily show up on the stat sheet,” said Bartlett, who against Cincinnati was credited with three tackles, two of them solo.
But there is so much more to his performance than just numbers.
“The first stretch of the game, he essentially plays two gaps, forces the ball back, overlaps the play and makes the tackle for a gain of four,” Lesley explained. “That’s not flashy or something people look at and say it’s a great play, but if he doesn’t do that, that play hits us for a big run.
“He does it about six or seven other times throughout the day. They are just routine plays and our message to our guys has always been everybody wants to make the three or four plays that are going to flash or be on highlights and ESPN at the end of the night, but if you take an 80-play game, there are 75 other routine plays that win you the game that nobody talks about.
“Jared had a ton of those.”
Barlett, a 6-2, 235-pounder out of Miami, recognizes that and buys into the team concept of defense that is necessary to succeed.
“Every game is not going to be a National Player of the Week games, a Big 12 Player of the Week game and you accept that sometimes,” he said. “I’d like to show up on the stat sheet a lot more, but at the end of the day, as long as we get a win, that’s all that really matters.”
It takes a while for any athlete to buy into that and that’s what has happened as the defense has matured over the time Bartlett has been at WVU and during this year. As is the case in this era of “transfermania”, it takes a while for each season to set in.
Now, with two games left, a regular season-ending trip to play a disappointing Baylor team at 7 p.m. on Saturday and a bowl game, WVU has to keep that together with the ultimate goal being a potential nine-victory out of a team selected to finish 14th in the Big 12’s preseason poll.
