LOS ANGELES — Ryan Barker knew it was going in before he even attempted the kick. It didn’t matter that USC tried to ice him, his mind had already been made up. He was not missing that field goal. And, just like he visualized, Barker lined up, the ball was snapped and he kicked it straight through the uprights to seal a 33-30 win for Penn State. There was never a doubt in his mind.
As he watched the ball sail into the net, Barker put his hands together and signaled to the Trojans that the hard-fought game on Saturday was put to bed. But his story is only just awakening. Until last weekend, Barker was just another walk-on. Now, he’s the Nittany Lions’ starting kicker and the owner of a game-winning kick.
“It’s truly a dream come true,” Barker said. “Ever since I stepped foot here, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do was hit a game-winning field goal. It means the world to me. I’m just so proud of myself.”
James Franklin was finishing up a postgame interview with CBS when he found Barker standing behind him. He stopped in the middle of his sentence to embrace the kicker he once recruited out of Kennett Square’s Kennett High School. Barker had once made history as Kennett’s first Division I football player. Now, he’s making history with the Nittany Lions.
After Franklin exchanged some words with Barker, it was his turn on the national broadcast, an experience he said he “absolutely” never thought he’d have. His dreams have become reality and then some. Barker is quickly becoming the special teams hero Penn State had long searched for. Since replacing Sander Sahaydak as the team’s starting kicker, he hasn’t missed.
“Ryan Barker walks on at Penn State, and the opportunity knocks, and he’s ready. And to me, that’s what our country is about; that’s what the game of football, I think, teaches,” Franklin said. “He earned the starting job, lost the starting job, then comes here. He’s 4-for-4 on the road, game-winning field goal there in overtime. Ryan ‘Cold as Ice’ Barker is what I’m calling him.”
Barker was met with a celebratory bath of water from teammates immediately after his postgame interview. With hair drenched, Barker was embraced by quarterback Drew Allar, who fought relentlessly to keep the Nittany Lions in contention of a victory even when a loss seemed a likely possibility with a two-score deficit at halftime.
The game-winning field goal was a testament to Barker’s “confidence” and “demeanor,” Allar said. Allar, as well as starting left tackle Drew Shelton and the rest of the team held that same confidence and belief that Barker would carry them to victory. There was never a doubt in their minds.
“Everyone was kneeling there, right there at the end, right where he was. We all knew he was gonna make it,” Shelton said.
It didn’t matter what Franklin or others thought of it when he first joined the program. Barker has always held himself to a high standard. He battled through two training camps, nearly won the starting job this past preseason, and kept practicing as though he was the starter even when he wasn’t.
Barker’s a walk-on, but it’s likely only a matter of time before he’s awarded a scholarship. His story is everything that’s great about college football, and it’s only just beginning. Barker has waited a lifetime to live out the dreams he knew one day he could accomplish if given the opportunity. The time has come, and he aims to make the absolute most of it.
“Everyone comes here for a reason, and I believed in that myself. I believed in myself,” Barker said. “I knew that I could do it. And when my time came, whenever it may have been, I just had to be ready for it.”
