Drew Barker was in grade school and couldn’t sit still.

Seated near the top of Commonwealth Stadium, he watched Andre Woodson and Kentucky pull off one of the greatest upsets in Wildcats history, shocking No. 1 LSU 43-37 in triple overtime in 2007.

Fans stormed the field, surrounding Woodson, the conquering hero.

Somewhere in that celebrating sea of blue stood Kentucky’s future quarterback.

“Yeah, I was there,” Barker said in a phone interview with Saturday Down South. “I stormed the field. We got on the field, it was pretty fun.”

Barker not only has the memory but also blades of grass, which he made sure to grab.

Fast-forward nine years and Barker, now a muscled-up redshirt sophomore quarterback, is hoping to create more football magic.

“It’s pretty funny how it worked out,” he said.

Leading the rebuilding effort

Kentucky football still is very much a work-in-progress in Year 4 under Mark Stoops.

Barker, in fact, still has work to do just to win the starting job.

Kentucky brought in two new offensive minds — Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw — from Cincinnati. They know Barker well; they recruited him when he was coming out of Conner High, just across the Ohio River from the Bearcats’ campus.

So their first interaction this winter as coaches-player lacked the typical anxiety. Theirs was much more like business partners renewing acquaintances than a job interview.

They talked football, of course. They discussed schemes and techniques and philosophy. They praised Barker’s throwing mechanics. But they also delivered a message.

“They said you guys are starving for somebody to be a leader, we need someone to take over and it might as well be you,” Barker said, “so I’ve put myself into a leadership position on the team. And I feel like everybody is starting to follow suit. That’s pretty much what the first conversations were like.”

Barker embraced the vote of confidence, even though he knows he’ll have to fend off JUCO transfer Stephen Johnson for the starting job this fall.

He said the experience of playing last year, taking his first SEC snaps at Mississippi State, prepared him for 2016. There is a palpable calm sense of confidence in his voice as he describes his role, his goals to reinvent Kentucky football.

“I definitely feel more prepared,” he said. “I’ve pretty much seen all the venues. I’ve seen what a big-time atmosphere is like. I definitely feel a lot more relaxed and in control, confident when I step in the huddle.”

How close is the race?

It was widely assumed that Patrick Towles’ late-season benching and eventual decision to transfer were the final two steps in turning the offense over to Barker.

And that’s what most expect to happen.

But Johnson didn’t pick Kentucky because he liked their shade of blue.

“I think it’s actually closer than you might imagine at first glance,” said Jon Hale, who covers Kentucky football for the Louisville Courier-Journal. “There’s no doubt Barker enters the spring as the No. 1 guy. He’ll get the first reps in spring practice and it’s his job to lose, but the new offensive coaches told Johnson in the recruiting process he would have a chance to compete for the job.

“They desperately needed another quarterback after Towles and Reese Phillips decided to transfer, and it appears they did better than any fan could hope late in the process to find a player of Johnson’s caliber.

“I talked to Johnson’s junior-college coach, Jack Steptoe, around the time Johnson committed and have rarely heard any coach rave about a player like Steptoe did for Johnson. … The good news for Barker and (freshman) Gunnar Hoak is Hinshaw recruited them both at Cincinnati, so it’s not a case of Johnson being the new coaches’ ‘guy’ and the players they inherited being at a disadvantage.”

Woodson agrees that the competition is open but told Saturday Down South that “Barker has all the intangibles to be a successful player.”

Barker is a strong-armed pocket passer, and Johnson poses much more of a dual threat.

Gran and Hinshaw will share offensive responsibilities. It works because they already share the same vision. Their background is rooted in a pro-style attack, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Barker is a lock.

“Hinshaw is on record saying he will do whatever gives the team the best chance to win games, but he also made it clear he wants to find a clear starter and does not like playing multiple quarterbacks,” Hale said.

“I think there’s a chance Johnson plays by winning the job outright or in relief of Barker in certain situations, but I don’t think it will be in a traditional platoon. Johnson’s speed definitely adds something that Barker, who is not exactly a statue in the pocket, doesn’t have, but he also considers himself a pass-first quarterback.”

Johnson showing off his hops at his Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., home in 2013.

The biggest advantage Barker has, aside from SEC experience, is his physical stature. Johnson weighed just 175 pounds on signing day, dangerously light for an SEC quarterback who lives on the edge.

Barker, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, spent as much time this offseason in the weight room as the film room.

“Physically, I lost some body fat, put on quite a bit of muscle, so I feel physically this is the best shape I’ve been in,” said Barker, who threw for 364 yards and a touchdown last season.

“From a football standpoint, I feel a lot better, not only with technique, but mentally, having played in games last year. Knowing how you have to prepare. I’ve been putting in a lot of extra work in the film room, the weight room. I’m feeling really confident about where I’m at right now.

“I feel like I’m ready to take that next step.”

Goals to go

Hale said even in limited playing time, Barker has shown he has the talent to win games in the SEC.

Working with Hinshaw, who has a reputation for developing quarterbacks, will help.

No matter who wins the job, Hale said Kentucky has other, serious issues to address before making hotel reservations for a bowl game.

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“If Barker wins the job in camp and UK starts fast again for the third consecutive season, he’s capable of helping avoid another collapse, but he will need a lot of help,” Hale said. “I’m not sure it’s as simple as pointing to the quarterback to avoid a repeat of that history. The pass rush has to be better, Boom Williams probably needs to be a star, the receivers have to stop dropping passes, etc.

“If you’re looking for a reason to think Barker would have a positive impact on that goal, the good news for fans is the UK coaches have always talked about him as a player his teammates rally around. He was key in holding that 2014 recruiting class together – it’s still the highest rated class in program history – so he could conceivably fill a similar role on the field. It’s too early to say that’s certain though.”

Woodson told Saturday Down South that he wants to see Barker focus his energy “on turning Kentucky into a legitimate contender in the SEC East by the investment they make in offseason workouts. … Altering the mentality of a program which has experienced such adversity from prior seasons occurs from internally buying in — players will naturally follow the quarterback’s lead.”

Barker has welcomed his expanded leadership role. He’s also fully embraced the challenge of leading Kentucky back to a bowl game for the first time since 2010.

As a homegrown signee, Barker, better than most, understands the significance of what that accomplishment would mean.

He saw it. First-hand. As a child cheering on Woodson.

Barker relayed an early conversation with Tim Couch, also from Kentucky. Couch told him that as a touted in-state signee/savior he would have to rise to meet expectations.

“That would be awesome,” Barker said. “I’m not sure last time they went to bowl game. That would definitely be a huge accomplishment. Not only for me, but just for the whole state. That would be amazing if I could bring that to the fans.

“The fans are diehard fans and they’re just waiting for success. They’re dying for it. I can’t even put it into words how awesome that would be, being from Kentucky, and doing that, breaking that streak.”