At this time last year, Ohio State kicker Devin Barclay wasn’t known to more than a handful of the most astute soccer fans.

But the 27-year-old senior has emerged as one of the most accurate college football kickers in the nation, connecting on 11 of 12 field goal attempts and leading the team in scoring 65 points this season alone.

Barclay’s game-winning field goal against Iowa last season sent OSU to the Rose Bowl and became one of the most replayed video highlights of the year, propelling him from complete obscurity into Buckeye lore.

All of this coming five years after Barclay’s tumultuous career in Major League Soccer was ended by injuries and failed expectations.

“My journey is not typical,” Barclay said. “I grew up real fast and learned a lot about myself. It’s definitely been a crazy ride, but I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”

Barclay’s journey to OSU began as a standout soccer player for McDonogh High School in Owings Mills, Md., and the U.S. National Under-18 squad.

A Parade Magazine All-American in high school, the MLS was intrigued by his potential and offered Barclay a Project-40 contract when he was 17 years old, allowing him entrance into the league without requiring college attendance.

He agreed to the contract and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 2001.

Barclay never planned on attending college, and during his rookie season, it didn’t seem like he would ever need to.

In 23 appearances, he scored three goals and two assists for the last-place Mutiny. Even on a bad team, Barclay assumed things would only get better for him.

“When you start your career, you want to go as far as you can,” Barclay said. “At that point, I was excited about the future.”

Barclay’s career would take him far, but not in the ways he had envisioned.

The Mutiny folded after his rookie season, and Barclay spent the next four years as a journeyman, playing for several teams, including the San Jose Earthquakes, D.C. United and Columbus Crew, but only for short periods of time.

He also spent much of that time on various trainer’s tables as injuries hindered his development. He would make only 19 appearances during those four years as he suffered multiple stress fractures, had shoulder surgery and even had a bone removed from the bottom of his foot.

When Barclay was on the pitch, his impact was almost non-existent, failing to score any goals during his final four seasons.

In retrospect, Barclay cites this period as one of the most important, if not painful, times of his life.

“I think it’s obviously gotten me where I am today,” Barclay said. “I don’t know if it’s played a direct role with what you’re seeing now, but it just helped me grow up and learn what works and how to find the patterns of success.”

Barclay stayed in Columbus after he left the MLS, and his competitive drive stayed with him. He stayed in soccer by coaching several local youth teams, and even ran in the Columbus Marathon.

But Barclay realized he would need a college education if he was going to compete in the real world. He began attending OSU in 2006 with tuition money provided by the MLS for Project-40 signees majoring in sports and leisure studies.

After getting acclimated to his classes, Barclay began thinking about walking-on the football team. The only problem was he’d never kicked a football before.

While eating at Easy Living Deli, Barclay was introduced to the deli’s owner, Vlade Janakievski. Janakievski, who set multiple kicking records while playing for the Buckeyes from 1977-1980, was intrigued by Barclay and wanted to help teach him how to kick.

Although he often fields requests for kicking lessons, Janakievski quickly realized Barclay had serious potential.

“As soon as I took him out, I could tell he had that touch and I knew he could kick,” Janakievski said. “He hit the ball very well and was very teachable.”

In addition to being a kicker for the Buckeyes, Janakievski also played for the OSU soccer team and understood how different kicking is between the two sports.

“Not all soccer players can kick, but I’m sure it helped,” Janakievski said. “It’s a big adjustment between snapping the ball and the person kicking. The kicker only has 1.3 seconds to get the kick off. It’s very difficult.”

Janakievski also brought in Dan Stultz, another former OSU kicker, to help Barclay with his kicking. After about three months of development, Barclay was ready for a tryout with the Buckeyes, while Janakievski and Stultz successfully lobbied coach Jim Tressel to give him a shot.

Barclay made the team as a walk-on in the spring of 2008.

But like the MLS, Barclay wasn’t on the field. Sitting behind kickers Ryan Pretorius and Aaron Pettrey, Barclay didn’t play at all during the 2008 season.

He still didn’t see any action through most of the 2009 season as Pettrey’s backup, but he remained patient, confident his chance would come.

“I knew that if I stuck with it and continued to get better, I would eventually get my chance,” Barclay said. “When I got my chance, I would take advantage of it.”

That chance came on Halloween against New Mexico State, and the results were frightening as Barclay only made one of three field goals.

With Pettrey injured for the remainder of the regular season, Barclay had to conquer his early kicking woes quickly.

After nailing his only field goal attempt against Penn State a week later, the Buckeyes had their Rose Bowl hopes resting on Barclay’s right leg against Iowa on Nov. 14.

Having already missed a field goal earlier in the game, he redeemed himself by drilling a 39-yard field goal in overtime to send the Buckeyes to Pasadena, Calif. The scene of Barclay being swarmed by fans and teammates after the game instantly became one of the most memorable Buckeye moments in recent years, even though Barclay himself doesn’t remember much about the kick.

“It was a great feeling,” Barclay said. “A lot of it’s a blur, but it was definitely a great feeling.”

During the offseason, Barclay won the starting kicking job against freshman Drew Basil, and has proved his worth as the primary kicker with only one miss in twelve attempts. Against Miami, he tied a single-game school record by kicking five field goals in the Buckeyes’ 36-24 victory.

“He has that confidence that he knows he can do it,” Janakievski said. “We all have that confidence in him. He’s becoming a very good kicker, and I think he’ll kick at the next level.”

As he continues to develop as a reliable weapon for the Buckeyes, Barclay also has his sights set on earning a kicking job in the NFL. In the revolving door world NFL kickers live in, he’ll likely get his chance.

He just has to take it one kick at a time.

“Everybody at this level wants to go on to the next level,” Barclay said. “For me, it’s a game-day process. I take it one game at a time, doing what I can do to help the team and letting the rest take care of itself.”