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YSU NOTEBOOK
Big-play (and career) Barnes: Senior wide receiver Dominique Barnes caught 10 passes for 132 yards to cap a terrific career. Barnes finished the season with 67 receptions for 911 yards, becoming the first receiver in school history to catch 60 passes in two seasons. (Barnes had 60 catches for 762 yards last year.) For his career, Barnes moved up to fifth on the career yardage list with 2,062. His 168 career catches are second all-time behind Jim Ferranti’s 186. He caught a pass in his last 34 games, which is first all-time. “I think me and the seniors, we all left it all out there,” Barnes said. “For some this is our last game playing football. We didn’t get the result but maybe some of us can feel good about ourselves.” Barnes also completed his first carer pass attempt Saturday, hitting WR Ely Ducatel for a 50-yard pass midway through the fourth quarter. “We’ve been working on it in practice,” said Barnes. “I told Ely I was gonna get him the ball. He caught it, we completed it. It was a big play.”
Freshman record: Redshirt freshman QB Kurt Hess had a rough day Saturday throwing four interceptions, but finished the year in good company. His 2,117 yards were the most by a freshman and the seventh-most in school history, just behind Ron Jaworski’s 2,123 yards in 1972. Jeff Ryan holds the top spot with 2,573 yards in 1999. “The future’s bright for Kurt,” Barnes said. “He’s still a freshman, he’s still young and he had a great year. He did a lot of good things and I enjoyed playing with him.”
Big play replay: After the Penguins gave up two quick passing touchdowns in the first quarter, the coaches switched senior CB Brandian Ross to safety, where he intercepted a pass late in the third quarter. He then ran to the sideline and threw the ball to former teammate Lenny Wicks. “He was the guy who told me, if you ever get a pick, put it in the stands with somebody you can trust,” said Ross, who also tied for the team lead with eight tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. “He’s the first one I saw, so I ran to him and threw him the ball. Hopefully he’s still got it.”
Cook ranks high: Sophomore RB Jamaine Cook finished with 1,276 yards, the 12th-highest total in school history. Marcus Mason, who rushed for 1,847 yards in 2006, is first.