Blue White Illustrated

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Beaver Ave s State College, PA 16801 www.The-Phyrst.com 814.234.4406 137 Elmwood St. s State College, PA 16801 www.HappyValleyBeer.com Wood-fire Grill 12 Beers on Tap 200 Year Old Barn 821 Cricklewood Dr. s Toftrees, State College www.AmericanAleHouse.net 814.237.9701 s Piano Bar s Sommelier 814.238.1406 814.234.7700 s 1611 Atherton St. s State College 814.941.7788 s Plank Rd. Exit s Altoona www.ChampsSportsGrill.net s Best Game Bar s Large Groups Welcome c lc e W We s p u o r G e g r a L s a e B m a st G e B s S n S h 1 A 1 6 1 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 me co r a l l C S r G s rt o p S s p m a h C . www s t i x . E d k R n a l P s 8 8 7 7 1. 4 9 . 4 1 8 S s . t n S o t r e h t 1 A 1 6 1 s 0 0 7 7 4. 3 2 4. 1 8 t e n . l l i r na o o t l A e g e l l o C e at t S It's a dilemma that creates a duality. While he may get fewer touches than his counterparts across the Big Ten, he has the league's third-best yards-per-carry average among full-time backs. He's making the most with the least. Who knows how that will sway voters in a few months, but they'll at least know about him. It's not just the website. Here's what also helps: McSorley opting to throw the ball to an open Mike Gesicki instead of handing it off to Barkley in front of an eight-man stacked box. Those eventually come back around and help open larger lanes for Barkley. With a smaller workload, he stays fresh. Then, as a defense sees McSorley gashing with QB draws or finding one- on-one coverage along the perimeter, it's forced to spread out. It doesn't take much space for Barkley to make some- thing big happen. And when he does make something big happen, people quickly find out. "You just believe in each other," Barkley said, explaining how the offense helps him rather than hinders. Then he emphasized just how he embraces his role – whether he's rushing for 80 yards on a single play or blocking for McSorley and not getting a lick of credit for it. Even if he'd like the ball twice as much, he understands the benefits of it all and says all the right things, no matter how many carries he does or doesn't get. But there's no question. He wants the ball. To counter the effects of the run-pass option that Penn State employs, a scheme that distributes the ball differ- ently than some others might, the coaches have been searching for other ways to get it into his hands, other av- enues for him to land into that night's top 10. And they have a case in point. In 2016, Stanford's Christian McCaf- fery led the nation with 211.5 all-pur- pose yards per game – Barkley sits at 218.3 after three games – and McCaffery did so by touching the ball about as much as his body could handle. He aver- aged 23 rushes per game and at least three additional receptions. He also re- turned about one punt and kickoff per game, for an average of about 28 touches per outing. "I studied this," Franklin said. "You look at what Stanford did with [McCaf- fery]. He had a huge impact as a tailback, as well as a punt-return guy and as a kick-return guy." It's an idea that Barkley initiated two summers ago, and when Penn State took its first kickoff of 2017, it was with No. 26 back deep. Instead of being met with cheers and enthusiasm for the possibili- ties, however, there came a smattering of boos and skeptical breaths from the Beaver Stadium crowd because by the time PSU received its first kick, it was in the third quarter and already held a five- touchdown lead over Akron. The risk of injury is what gave the worriers pause. McCaffery averaged about eight more touches a game than Barkley has so far and even he finished second in the Heis- man voting last year. How much more is a kick return – arguably the most dan- gerous play in the sport – going to help? But for Barkley, it's not about that. It's not about playing to avoid injury. It's not even about an award. He's a perfection- ist and he wants to do it all so he can maximize his potential and test his per- sonal limits – all the while leading his team to heights that will keep him in the Heisman conversation as well. And if he wants to participate on special teams as well, why stop him? "I don't play with that mindset of, oh, we're up 35, why am I back here?" Barkley said after the Akron game. "When you play with that, that's when I think bad things start to happen. If any- thing is going to happen, it's going to happen anyway. I'm a real firm believer in that. I just come out every single day and try to work my butt off, push myself and push the guys and try to be a great leader and take advantage of every op- portunity, because you never know when it will be your last." Until that day comes – and hopefully it won't come for a long, long time – we will sit back and enjoy the show. Because someone like Barkley only comes around once, and we wouldn't mind seeing a lit- tle more of him out there. ■

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