Week 4 Stats: 1-1 FGs (25 yards), 4-4 PATs, 283 kickoff yards (5 kickoffs), 56.0 yards per kickoff, 1 TB
Previously taking home NEC Special Teams Player of the Week distinction following a stellar season-opening performance against Central Michigan last month, Barnes becomes the NEC’s first repeat weekly award winner of 2024 after he tallied seven points in Central Connecticut’s four-point defeat at FBS opponent UMass on Saturday. A local product from Southington, CT, Barnum, who converted on all four of his PATs, kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give his team a 31-28 advantage heading into the final stretch. The 6-foot-2 junior also assumed kickoff duties for Central Connecticut, averaging 56.0 yards per boot and 283 total kickoff yards with one touchback in five attempts. In addition, Barnum played a key part in helping his team take a 28-21 advantage with 10:12 left in the third. Executing a perfect on-side kick to open the stanza, he recovered the ball at the Central Connecticut 48-yard line, which led Paul Marsh, Jr. capping the ensuing eight-play, 52-yard drive with the go-ahead score less than five minutes later. The Blue Devils have dominated the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week award this season, claiming three of four. Senior punter Aidan Clark was recognized as the league’s top special teams player last week on Sept. 16.