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Days after the best performance of his collegiate career, the talk surrounding West Virginia linebacker Jared Bartlett turned grim.

As the redshirt sophomore linebacker spoke to members of the media on Tuesday, conversation pivoted to Bartlett’s brother, Richard, who was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash in June. He was 23-years old.

“With my brother passing away, it kind of put a lot of things into perspective,” Jared said. “Not taking everything for granted, trying to do the best I can do. Just trying to live up to his legacy, everything he taught me.”

At the time of the tragedy, Jared was preparing for his third season with the Mountaineers. His summer work was great, according to head coach Neal Brown, and, staring adversity in the face, he turned in a strong fall camp.

But, come the regular season, Bartlett’s performance was lacking. He tallied only two tackles over the season’s first two games.

Bartlett turned to the memory of his brother for inspiration.

“He always looked at things in a positive light and that’s useful in football,” Bartlett said of his brother. “When you focus on the negative, it’s hard to improve.”

He flipped the book as the Mountaineers began preparing for the then-No. 15 Virginia Tech Hokies, turning in strong practices in the days leading up to the game. Then, come Saturday, Bartlett’s work had paid off.

Bartlett was thrust into action, ultimately playing more snaps than starting bandit linebacker VanDarius Cowan, and took advantage, ending the afternoon with three sacks. One of them forced a fumble, helping secure the Mountaineers’ win over the rival Hokies.

The bandit linebacker position is a kind of combination of a defensive end and an outside linebacker. Bartlett saw success at the position due to his quickness and athleticism.

“Jared has grown so much in the last year as a player,” co-defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “He comes to the sideline, it was first quarter, early second quarter, and he said ‘Coach, I’m mismatched with these guys on the edge.’ So, I trust him and put him out there. It’s pretty easy to see, a lot of times we’ll have guys protect us because of the interior. When that happens, he took full advantage of it. I’ve always told him his advantage is speed and he has to use that. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but that’s ok. He kind of figured that out and had a great game.”

Bartlett’s performance was a welcome one for West Virginia’s defense, making a statement as he rebounded from his early-season struggles.

“Did I think he was going to have three sacks, five tackles and a forced fumble?” Brown said. “Probably not, but I did feel like he was going to give us more and he did … once that tragedy happened he’s had a renewed focus, (and) a seriousness about his preparation, so I was extremely pleased for him that it paid off in game situation.”

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