Blue White Illustrated

S e P T e M b e R 1 2 , 2 0 1 5 b l u e w h i T e o n l i n e . c o M 11 R Y A N   J O N E S | b l u e w h i T e c o n T R i b u T o R James Franklin talked about a "spark," which seemed like an understatement when describing Saquon Barkley's im- pact Saturday at Beaver Stadium. A spark is a small thing that leads to something much bigger. Barkley, the true freshman running back who stole the second-half show in a 27-14 win over Buffalo, was huge all by himself. "He did some exciting things for us," Franklin said a@er Barkley ran 12 times for 115 yards – all in the second half – to power the Nittany Lions' victory. "The things he showed today, he showed those things in camp, and he showed those things this week. His confidence will continue to grow, and we'll continue to develop him." It seemed worth noting, as Franklin did, that Barkley "doesn't run like a fresh- man." In keeping with Penn State's media handling for true freshmen, the former Whitehall (Pa.) High star wasn't made available to talk a@er the game, but he was nonetheless a primary topic of con- versation in the postgame news confer- ence. It wasn't only his numbers, including a 9.6 yards-per-carry average, but how he got them. And there was one play in particular, still looping on Vines everywhere, that really had people buzzing. "He talks about that all the time: 'If the safety comes, I'm hurdling him,'" said redshirt junior Akeel Lynch, thus far the Lions' starter in the offensive backfield. The play that lit up the stadium came early in the fourth quarter, and while Lynch hadn't seen Barkley do it previ- ously, he said, "I know he can do it, so it wasn't surprising." Lynch added that he still had room to tease his backfield mate on the play, because Barkley slipped a@er he cleared the Buffalo safety: "He should've scored." Lynch said Barkley knew it, and the freshman did score midway through the fourth, his 9-yard touchdown run giving Penn State a 27-7 advantage and easing fears that a season-opening loss to Tem- ple was the start of a nightmare season. Saturday was just one game, and Buffalo hardly the opponent by which to gauge how good they might be, but in Barkley's breakout game, the Lions got an undeni- able bit of good news for this season and beyond. Lynch, who inspired Vines of his own last December with a tackle-shedding run against Boston College, knows what it's like to be the young guy who fans are clamoring for. Barkley's play Saturday guaranteed he'll be that guy in 2015, and to his credit, Lynch embraced the idea. "The kid was hot – you have to give him the ball," Lynch said. "As long as we're winning games, you can't be upset about that at all." Franklin, meanwhile, was mindful of connecting Barkley's contributions to those of other young players like true freshman wideout Brandon Polk – who broke another big run on a reverse Satur- day – and true sophomore receiver Chris Godwin, who finished with a team-high five catches for 75 yards. But the coach knew Barkley was the guy in the spot- light, and acknowledged he's only living up to the rep he developed in high school. Franklin retold a story about how Barkley, due to Pennsylvania high school rules, couldn't hurdle defenders in high school, but that he'd said he planned to try it in college. "I'm glad he brought that back out of his bag of tricks," Franklin said. It's a bag Penn State fans will hope to see Barkley reaching into much more o@en, very soon. LIGHTING A FIRE Saquon Barkley enjoys a big afternoon in his first home appearance LEAP OF FAITH Barkley prepares to vault Buffalo safety Ryan Williamson on a fourth-quarter carry. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover