Blue White Illustrated

F A S T F O R W A R D >> A N E A R L Y L O O K including specialists Tyler Davis, Joey Julius and Blake Gillikin – and a coaching staff that appears as though it will return intact despite feelers from other pro- grams regarding the availability of coor- dinators Joe Moorhead and Brent Pry, the Nittany Lions appear to be entirely capa- ble of defending their conference cham- pionship. Whether they do so or not will depend in part on how they handle success. This is a program that has been marginalized the past few years. It didn't appear in anyone's preseason Top 25 last summer, and the suspicion ran so deep that the team didn't make the AP rankings until late October following its upset victory over second-ranked Ohio State. The fact that Penn State was such a latecomer to the national spotlight may account for some of the skepticism that prevented it from reaching the College Football Play- off. Now that the skepticism has abated, the Lions will have to adapt to a new role as favorites. They are all but certain to be a preseason top-10 team in 2017, the first time that's happened since 2009. Some commentators have even predicted they will be a preseason top-five team. That hasn't happened since 1999. No matter where they land, they will be scrutinized as potential Big Ten champions, their hopes and dreams dissected at length by ESPN, BTN, Sports Illustrated and the summer football magazines. That sort of attention carries with it the weight of ex- pectation. But if the surge in attention creates some challenges, they are the kind of challenges that Franklin has embraced and that he believes his program is equipped to handle. "With the young men that we've got in this locker room and the staff that I've been fortunate enough to surround my- self with, the support that we've gotten from President [Eric] Barron and Sandy Barbour, our athletic director, if we just realize that we've got a great opportunity right now and capitalize on it, keep work- ing, you know, I think we can continue to build this thing and continue to do special things." Here's a position-by-position look at T en running backs in the Class of 2014 were better than Saquon Barkley according to Rivals.com, and there was a time earlier in his career when the Penn State standout might have been able to rattle off their names. A few of them, anyway. "I have a real good idea of who was in front of me," Barkley said recently. "It's not like I'm calling people out. It was a little motivation for me coming into my freshman year. I wanted to prove [people] wrong. I felt like I was one of the top running backs in the country, and I wanted to prove them wrong." Mission accomplished. Coming off a season in which he rushed for a Penn State sophomore- record 1,496 yards, including a breathtaking star turn in the Rose Bowl, Barkley is not being underesti- mated by anyone. He shared Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, was a third-team Associated Press All-American, and after introducing himself to national audiences via the Big Ten Championship Game and Rose Bowl, he is starting to receive ac- claim as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and high-first-round draft pick. He was named to six All-Bowl teams, and that wasn't even the most memorable compliment he received for his performance against Southern California. No, that came from ex- Penn State running back Akeel Lynch, who tweeted during the game that his former teammate wasn't getting enough carries. "FEED 26!" Lynch demanded. "I transferred for a rea- son." As he has gained stature, Barkley has left behind the motivational ploys that fueled his quick ascent as a freshman. He doesn't think about the recruiting rankings much these days. Said the rising junior, "I'm on to other things. I feel like if you stay there, you're not setting higher goals for yourself. I set higher goals for myself, so that's kind of in the past for me." Those higher goals included a Rose Bowl victory, but even though Barkley totaled 306 yards – 194 rushing, 55 re- ceiving and 57 on kickoff returns – and scored three touchdowns, including a brilliant 79-yarder in which he slipped a few arm tackles near the line of scrimmage before breaking into the clear, the Lions couldn't hold onto a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. Their 52-49 loss to the Trojans was a gut punch to everyone on the Penn State sideline, the standout run- ning back included. Barkley was somber after the game, in part because he knew that while he would have an- other shot at achieving postseason glory, his senior teammates would not. "The seniors did a really good job of keeping this program alive, and the team just wanted to send them off on the right note," he said. "We fell short of that today. That's why to me this loss hurts so much." Over the years, Barkley has used slights and disappointments as kin- dling to keep his competitive fire burning. After his freshman season, which ended with four consecutive Penn State losses, he approached the 2016 off-season with a fierce sense of purpose. He was a weight room fix- ture, posting the team's best perform- ances in the power clean (390 pounds), pro agility drill (4.0 seconds) and 40- yard dash (4.38 seconds), and he car- ried that attitude into the season. As the offensive line improved, so did Barkley's numbers. And while they dipped again when injuries up front FUEL INJECTED Saquon Barkley determined to keep improving |

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