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FOOTBALL: Walk-on player to start against Indiana

Barrington Scott earns scholarship, starting position after two years on practice teams

Barrington Scott considers the reporter's question. The last time I played a competitive game?

"Like, a real game?"

Not like a spring game. Scott's played in a few of those. A real game that counts.

"High school. Senior year. Like, Week 5 I played in the game. Yeah."

Scott answers with authority at first, then some uncertainty as if to say "Has it really been that long?" It really has.

Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, that stretch will end a few weeks shy of three years. Scott, a redshirt sophomore, will take the field with his teammates at Ball State for the first time as the starting running back. It is all Scott can think about.

"I know it's going to be an amazing feeling, man," he says. "I've come a long way.

"I'm ready, man."

Scott pauses, as if trying to find the perfect way to explain how it will feel to get back on the field after three tumultuous years that have included two major knee injuries, a transfer and a coaching change.

"I'm ready."

Troubling times

Scott last played in an official football game on Sept. 19, 2008. He was a senior running back at Fort Wayne Snider High School, an all-conference player for a team that would finish the season 11-2. That Friday night, Snider hosted Fort Wayne Harding.

Snider entered the game 4-0 and ranked No. 4 in the state in Class 5A. After an early score by Harding, Snider would score the game's final 31 points, rolling to a 25-point victory. As the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel would put it the next day, the only downside for Snider was Scott leaving the game injured in the first half.

Scott's injury eventually was revealed to be a torn left ACL. Five weeks into his senior season, Scott's high school football career was over. He finished the year with 402 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, good enough to make second-team all-conference despite his abbreviated season.

Scott was devastated. The game following his injury, Scott stood on the sidelines supported by crutches, watching his teammates warm up. Snider coach Kurt Tippmann, then the team's defensive coordinator, walked over to Scott and found his eyes filled with tears.

"It hurt him that much that he couldn't play," Tippmann said. "But to his credit, he had his sad time and then got focused on his goal."

That goal was to play Division I football. Before the injury Scott was being recruited by multiple Mid-American Conference schools, including Ball State. After he tore his ACL, however, most backed off.

Ultimately, Scott decided his best option was to go to Northern Illinois. The Huskies offered him a spot as a preferred walk-on, with the promise that he could quickly work his way to a scholarship. Scott had a good relationship with the coaches at Northern Illinois, helping to seal the deal.

"They loved him," Tippmann said. "They would come back here and sing his praises about how hard he worked."

But at Northern Illinois, Scott ran into a familiar problem. He once again injured his knee, this time tearing his right meniscus. Unable to play, Scott wasn't able to work his way onto a scholarship. With money tight, out-of-state tuition was more than he could afford. Scott made the decision to transfer to Ball State where he would still be a walk-on, but have a smaller tuition bill.

Joing Ball State

Scott joined a crowded stable of talented running backs in Muncie in 2010. The position was led by fellow Snider alum MiQuale Lewis, who was finishing his storied Ball State career. Joining him were Eric Williams, Cory Sykes and David Brown, a group that was forcing Stan Parrish to craft game plans that put as many running backs as possible on the field.

By NCAA rule, Scott had to sit out the year after transferring. He didn't get many reps during practice, instead working with the other backups on the scout team, mimicking Ball State's opponent each week. That meant he didn't learn much of the Cardinals' playbook, which ordinarily might have been difficult to overcome. But when Parrish was fired and Pete Lembo hired to replace him, Scott found himself on a level playing field with every other running back, just trying to learn a new offensive system.

"When I found out a new coaching staff was coming, I knew it was a big opportunity," Scott said. "Not just for me but for everybody to show what they could do on the field."

Scott caught another break during spring practice when injuries to other running backs made more reps available to him. He made sure he didn't miss his opportunity.

By the end of spring, Lembo had made the decision to put Scott on scholarship. But Lembo couldn't tell Scott until he was absolutely sure it would happen. By the time Lembo was finally able to break the news to Scott, it was early summer. The day Scott found out, he called Tippmann.

"There was almost emotion in his voice where he couldn't believe it happened," Tippmann said. "He wanted to share it with anyone that would listen."

Scott kept taking advantage of his opportunities during training camp. Williams elected to transfer and injuries to Sykes and Brown left the running back position in flux. Scott stepped into the void and played his way to the top of the depth chart.

"There are opportunities that present themselves at times for one reason or another and you have to be in position to seize the moment," Lembo said.

"Barrington Scott has."

There will be more moments to seize Saturday night. Holes to run through, passes to catch, defenders to block. Scott will be ready because he has no choice. After missing almost three seasons of football, he is back. And he won't be easily denied his latest opportunity.

"I'm ready, man."


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