Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 0 1 9 S E A S O N P R E V I E W SEEING STARS R U N N I N G B A C K S After a violent introduction to college football, sophomore Ricky Slade is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his NFL-worthy predecessors hey call it the welcome-to-col- lege moment for a reason. It's been a rite of passage for so many true freshmen, former high school stars who have made the jump to the next level. For Penn State running back Ricky Slade, the acclimatization came quickly and suddenly. The second week of pre- season camp was winding down. Slade, fresh off a high school career that had ended with his selection as Virginia Player of the Year, was seeing some of his first live carries. Pads were popping, tackling was permitted, and it was scrim- mage time. As the offense was driving to- ward the red zone, the play called for Slade to run an inside zone right. There was a missed assignment. Those happen at every level, college included. "A linebacker came off the edge off a blitz, full speed," Slade recalled. "I didn't see him, and apparently nobody else had seen him either." Instead of subtly slipping past the tackle and zipping through the crease as he had done so many times during his four starting seasons at C.D. Hylton High, Slade was dropped in his tracks. Stunned by the force of the collision, he lay on the field for a minute staring up at the central Pennsylvania skies. "For me, that was that welcome-to- college hit," he said. "It really hurt. I was on the ground for a little bit, trying to get my bearings." The linebacker who put him on his back has since transferred, and there was a message in the fact that Slade was flat- tened not by one of the team's stars but by a backup. Given the talent level at a place like Penn State, that welcome-to-college moment can happen at any time and against any teammate. For every rookie, there are two ways to respond: recoil in the face of adversity or say, "Hey, that wasn't so bad." Slade chose the latter. And a year later, he's looking to step into a role that during the previous four seasons was filled by two players who went on to become high NFL Draft picks. By the time Penn State opened its 2018 season against Appalachian State, Slade had made a positive impression on the coaching staff. He had gotten on the field in the first half, and when he re-en- tered the game in the third quarter, the Nittany Lions were clinging to a 7-point lead. Getting a drive to himself, Slade built some momentum. He chipped away at the Mountaineers' defense for gains of 3, 4 and 3 yards, and then on the eighth play of the series, facing second- and-7 from the App State 27-yard line, Slade broke one. This time he found the crease. "I fit through there and I could see nothing but open field," he said. "At that point I was just running not to get caught, just running with all my speed, begging to get into the end zone basically. It was just something I had to do." Scoring in front of the student section "was extremely loud," he added. "Nothing like high school." The TD gave Penn State a boost before it eventually squeaked out a 45-38 overtime victory, narrowly avoiding an upset against the Moun- taineers. For Slade, the pivotal score was a different kind of wel- come-to-college moment than the one he had previously experienced. "When I first really understood that I could play with these guys was after my first game of the season," he said. "After my first touchdown I kind of figured out that it's not that hard. At the end of the day, it's just football." And that's what Slade is good at. Really, really good at. Penn State has signed a number of blue-chip running backs during James Franklin's coaching tenure, and Slade is the highest-ranked of them all – higher even than Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders. Rivals.com rated him the 37th- best overall player in the Class of 2018, three spots ahead of where Devyn Ford finished in the 2019 class. Slade totaled 5,499 rushing yards dur- ing his high school career, and as a fresh- man at Penn State he gained 257 yards on 45 carries and scored six touchdowns. He's looking to build on that performance as a sophomore and eventually hopes to follow in the footsteps of Barkley and Sanders, both of whom were able to showcase their NFL potential during their time at Penn State. But Slade knows the competition is fierce, no matter what kind of prep pedi- gree he brought with him. He's in college now. Every- body is good. Furthermore, inside the running back meet- ing room, the bar has been raised after Sanders and Barkley were selected in the first two rounds in consecu- tive drafts. | FAST START Slade made an immedi- ate impact at Penn State, scoring a 27- yard touchdown against Ap- palachian State in his first game. Photo by Steve Manuel T