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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> SHARING THE WEALTH C O V E R S T O R Y Saquon Barkley may be the Nittany Lions' breakout star, but the junior RB sees himself as part of a winning ensemble aquon Barkley's sweatshirt hood was drawn tightly over his head, his hands pulling its strings to shrink the space in which his face could be seen. His backpack strapped over both shoul- ders, Barkley was guided past a throng of reporters interviewing other Nittany Lions under the south end zone bleachers at Ryan Field. Pulled along by the pro- gram's media liaison, Barkley quickly scanned his surroundings and attempted to work out a deal. With few reporters seeming to notice his presence, Barkley gestured with his index finger in front of his mouth, plead- ing against all hope to go unnoticed in the midst of the most hyped months of his young life. No deal. "Saquon Barkley!" the media rep shouted. Like ducks chasing bread crumbs in a pond, reporters and videographers hus- tled to surround Barkley. He had just assembled his lowest all- purpose yardage total of the season, car- rying the ball 16 times for 75 yards and adding a pair of receptions for 9 yards. He was also held without a kickoff return op- portunity in the Nittany Lions' 31-7 near- shutout against Northwestern. But his lone highlight lived up to the standard he had set each week prior. Sti- fled by a Wildcat defense that was dead set on taking away any and all running lanes, Barkley remained patient after rushing for minus-2 yards in the first half. Finally, on his 15th touch of the afternoon, he found his opportunity. Taking Trace McSorley's inside handoff out of the shotgun, Barkley danced in the backfield as right tackle Will Fries kicked to the left side. The block opened a small hole, cre- ating a one-on-one matchup against a safety. Receiving his best and only opportunity to that point in the game, Barkley made the most of it. After a jump cut beyond the linebacker, and an astute use of the back judge's unintentional screen, it was off to the races. Beating his man up the purple paint of the sideline, Barkley hopped into the end zone to complete the 53-yard touchdown. In spite of his relatively modest pro- duction on the afternoon, Barkley still found the end zone twice and barely missed an opportunity for a third score when he wasn't able to hold onto a low pass in the end zone. More than content with the game's outcome, one that im- proved the Nittany Lions' record to 6-0, he dismissed the idea that he'd been dis- couraged by Northwestern's plan of at- tack. "I don't really get frustrated. I don't think I would ever let myself get frus- trated, especially when you win the game," he said. "I'm very aware it's a long game. It's a four-quarter game, and you just have to take what the defense gives you. If that's [short gains], then when you get the op- portunity to hit the big one you have to be ready to hit the big one. Patience is a big part of just being a running back in gen- eral, not just in my game, but in any run- ning back's game. You can ask any running back on our team, any running back in the country: Patience is a big part." The sentiment is likely more true for Barkley than others. Through six games, he was leading the Lions in rushing with 102 carries for 649 yards and six touchdowns. At 6.4 yards per carry, his average was improved over both his freshman and sophomore sea- sons, but defensive strategies had led to fewer carries per game. The Nittany Lions went into the season understanding that opposing defenses were going to key in on Barkley. James Franklin and his staff knew that those op- ponents would choose to leave them- selves vulnerable in other areas of the field, living with the consequences of that plan in the hope of preventing Barkley from going off. "Obviously, everyone spent the entire off-season coming up with a game plan to S |

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