Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/575323
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