Blue White Illustrated

James Franklin wasn't kidding. Asked following a recent practice about Saquon Barkley, who was about to give the first group interview of his college career, Franklin told reporters that what im- pressed him most about the rising soph- omore running back was his humility. "For a guy who has gotten a lot of at- tention in a very, very short period of time, he's handled it very well," Franklin said. "You wouldn't even know, and that's not just me. That's having my player meetings with all the guys from the team and a lot of guys commented on how he's handled it – how he is on cam- pus, how he is on Saturday night, how he is just with his teammates in the locker room and his approach on the field. He's very humble, very hardworking, very mature. He's doing extremely well aca- demically." Surrounded by a crush of media min- utes later, Barkley didn't disappoint. He may have set a Penn State freshman rushing record with 1,076 yards, earned second- team All-Big-Ten honors and a host of freshman All-Conference and All- America nods along the way, but none of that success appears to have gone to his head. By the time he'd wrapped up 12 minutes of fidgeting and fumbling for the right words – acknowl- edging off the top his discomfort talking to the media – what had already been ob- vious was made even more so. Spectac- ular as he may be on the football field, gracious and likable as he may be off the field with coaches and teammates, Barkley is very much the humble 19- year-old kid that Franklin had described moments earlier. "I think I'm doing a decent job," Barkley started, summing up his accom- plishments to date. "I'm becoming a complete back – working on leadership and especially working on my pass blocking and picking up blitzes. I think I'm doing a pretty good job so far." If anything about Barkley's current it- eration is "pretty good," the question quickly becomes what "even better" could look like for the Coplay, Pa., resi- dent as he prepares for his second season at Penn State. Despite missing a pair of games due to injury last year, Barkley still proved him- self to be one of the college football's most electrifying young running backs. His average of 5.9 yards per carry ranked 34th nationally, and the number of high- light-reel runs he delivered on what seemed to be a weekly basis only pro- vided confirmation of his place moving forward. Not that the outside affirmation mat- ters much to Barkley. "I'm honored to be compared to some great running backs," he said, "but I try to block that out and be myself and just try to be a better player every single day." Coming off of a winter workout pro- gram in which he finished with the team's top marks in the 40-yard dash (4.38 seconds), pro agility drill (4.0 sec- onds), power clean (390 pounds), as well as a third-place finish in the squat (600 pounds) behind defensive tackles Kevin Givens and Antoine White, Barkley is being held out of the more physical as- pects of spring practice. The approach has paid dividends, with the sophomore reporting that he feels "amazing" phys- ically. Eager to shine a spotlight on the people who have helped him get where he is, Barkley said he intends to simply keep moving forward. He is certain to be the object of considerable media attention in the coming months, but he hasn't been fazed by the attention so far, and has a big support system to help him deal with what's to come. "I would have to give big credit to my parents and my family, making sure I stay grounded, always keeping me level- headed. Also where I'm from, my high school coaches and my community did a great job, too," he said. "As I came up here, Coach Franklin, Coach [Charles] Huff are also doing a great job in trying to keep me level-headed. I talk to my par- ents every weekend, and they know a lot of attention has come my way, but they just always tell me to stay focused and stay humble." A P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 7 The long run Saquon Barkley stays focused on his development as hype continues to build N A T E   B A U E R   | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M STANDING TALL Barkley said he's been focused this spring on becoming a more com- plete running back. Photo by Steve Manuel

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