Hunter Barth bleeds Cardinal red … now.
There was a time, not too long ago, when the redshirt senior inside linebacker pledged allegiance to a different Bay Area team — and not just any team, but Stanford’s biggest rival: the UC Berkeley Golden Bears. Barth played for Berkeley the past four seasons before graduating and transferring to Stanford to complete his masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“I had a great experience at Cal,” Barth said, reflecting on his time there. “I’m originally from Arizona, so it was my first time coming out to the Bay Area, which was fun. I made a lot of friends and good memories.”
At Berkeley, Barth appeared in 42 games as linebacker and on special teams, compiling 65 tackles. During his final season as a Bear, he posted career highs in tackles (38), tackles for loss (four) and sacks (two). He also forced two fumbles and defended two passes. Ironically, Barth tied his career-high in tackles at the 127th Big Game, with seven against the Cardinal.
Now, Barth is hoping to channel that same energy — this time against his former teammates. How? Just like he always has: consistency.
“There’s an element of playing my old team which makes it different,” he said. “But I’m not going to change anything as far as my process goes for each game. I want to stay as even as possible and keep everything the same in terms of how I watch film and how I practice.”
Along with following his established routine, Barth wants to approach Big Game with a clear mind.
“I’m trying to cut out as much emotion as possible,” he said.
That sense of focus and determination has largely defined Barth’s time at Stanford, where he feels he’s been able to develop as a player.
“I definitely feel like I’ve progressed over the past year,” he said. “I think I’ve improved as far as learning overall football knowledge and then just doing the detailed things I do in practice each day, like hitting the shed, striking blocks, and working on my footwork and drops.”
The inside linebacker hopes that these efforts, which have resulted in 27 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks thus far in the season, will help him deliver a strong performance at Big Game, an event he’s eagerly anticipating.
“Big Game was always the highlight of every season [at Cal],” he said. “The overall excitement and energy around Big Game makes it a big deal, and having the opportunity to see it from the other side is a unique experience for sure.”
Despite playing for the opposing (and winning) team the past four Big Games, Barth is confident that this could be the Cardinal’s year.
“I think over the games we’ve had, we’ve seen how good we can play and what we can do,” Barth said. “It’s just fixing all of those little things as much as we can and putting everything together that we’ve done throughout the season to get the outcome we want on Saturday.”
As a fifth-year player, the 128th Big Game is Barth’s last, so he wants to make it count.
“I’m excited,” he said. “Being at Cal, we had won the game the last four years in a row, so I’m hoping that being here at Stanford I can bring the Axe back to Palo Alto. I want to do it for the team and do it for the community.”
Barth and the Cardinal (3-7, 2-5 ACC) will take on Cal (6-4, 3-3 ACC) at Stanford Stadium this Saturday at 4:30 p.m.