Blue White Illustrated

W hen 55 of the players on your scholarship roster have either freshman or sophomore eligibility, it's imperative that no fewer than a third of those players make some kind of con- tribution on game day throughout the regular season. That is a benchmark number that members of Penn State's recruiting classes of 2014 and '15 have not only met but easily exceeded so far this sea- son. In the Nittany Lions' 9rst two games against Temple and Bu;alo, 24 freshman and sophomore players on the scholarship roster saw the 9eld on of- fense, defense and special teams. That's 43.6 percent of the scholarship players with 9rst- or second-year eligibility. It's an impressive number, to be sure, and even more impressive is the impact that those players are having. Through the 9rst two games of the season, freshmen and sophomores were at or near the top of most statistical cat- egories on both sides of the ball, and also in the kicking game. On offense, freshman running back Saquon Barkley and freshman wide re- ceiver Brandon Polk entered the Nit- tany Lions' Big Ten opener against Rut- gers as the second- and third-leading rushers on the team. Barkley had run for 116 yards on 13 carries with a touch- down run of 9 yards. His average of 8.9 yards per carry was by far the best among the running backs on Penn State's roster. Polk, who has been used in the running game on a series of :y sweeps, totaled 95 yards on 9ve attempts through two games and was averaging a gaudy 19 yards per carry. His longest run was 33 yards, and he took a :y sweep 22 yards for a touchdown against Bu;alo. On Penn State's depth chart, three freshman running backs – Barkley, Mark Allen and Nick Scott – 9ll the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 spots behind redshirt junior Akeel Lynch, who rushed for 124 yards on 29 carries through two games. At wide receiver, sophomore Chris Godwin appears to have taken over as the team's go-to pass-catcher. Against Temple and Bu;alo, he made 10 recep- tions for 156 yards, and his average of 15.6 yards per catch far exceeded that of every other wideout on the team. On special teams, freshmen dominate the scene. That's hardly a surprise giv- en the problems Penn State has had in this area dating back to the latter years of the Paterno era. For more than a decade, Penn State's punt-return game has been mediocre at best, consistently ranking in the bottom half of the Big Ten. But that trend has been reversed this season, as redshirt freshmen De- Andre Thompkins and Mark Allen have both shown tremendous potential, helping Penn State rank seventh in the Big Ten in punt-return average through its first two games with an 11.6-yard average. Thompkins had returned four punts for 71 yards with a 58-yard re- turn against Buffalo, and his average of 17.8 yards per attempt was second in the Big Ten. Allen had returned five punts for 33 yards (6.6 yards per at- tempt). Penn State's kick-return game has also been upgraded. In the 9rst two weeks of the season, the Nittany Lions 9elded two of the top three kicko; returners in the Big Ten. Nick Scott, a backup run- ning back who is likely to make his biggest impact on special teams this season, had a 58-yard kicko; return against Bu;alo. Koa Farmer, who was slightly injured and didn't play against the Bulls in week two, returned 9ve kicko;s against Temple, averaging 25.6 yards per attempt, with his longest re- turn covering 35 yards. The dramatic improvement Penn State has seen in its punt- and kicko;-return units is directly related to the huge in- crease in overall team speed and athleti- cism that that the classes of 2014 and '15 have brought to University Park. Coach James Franklin has pointed out several times in recent months that when he was named Penn State's head coach, only three players on the scholarship roster had better than 4.5-second 40- yard speed. That total has now reached double 9gures, with Allen, Thompkins, Scott and Farmer all ranking among the team's fastest players. Farmer's emergence provides a clear illustration of how Penn State's size, speed and athleticism have all improved during the past two years. When he ar- rived on campus in June 2014, he stood 6-foot-1, 212 pounds. Although he was listed as a safety, his frame was big enough to allow him to play outside linebacker. And yet, when the Nittany Lion coaches tested their incoming freshmen that summer, Farmer turned out to be one of the three fastest mem- bers of the class. This past February, with spring prac- tice approaching, the coaches tested the entire team. During those tests, Farmer reportedly turned in a 4.34-second 40- yard time, 9

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