Blue White Illustrated

O C T O B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 9 The reason Penn State is ranked No.2 in the country coming off its 42-13 pounding of Michigan is because it's a complete team on offense, defense and special teams. Is Saquon Barkley a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate? You bet he is. Barkley is the third-leading rusher in the Big Ten with 757 yards and a per-carry average of 6.5 yards, with eight rushing touchdowns. He's also Penn State's leading receiver with 32 catches for 448 yards and three TDs, and he's leading the country with an average of 211.14 all-purpose yards per game. Also, as ABC analyst Kirk Herb- streit noted during the broadcast on Sat- urday, Barkley impacts the game even when he doesn't have the football in his hands, drawing attention away from the team's other playmakers. Does Trace McSorley rival J.T. Barrett as the Big Ten's top quarterback? Maybe that is a question you should ask the Michigan defense, which was allowing an FBS-low 223.8 yards per game entering its matchup against Penn State. McSorley lit up the Wolverines' proud defense, amassing 358 yards of total offense: 282 through the air and 76 on the ground. He produced four touchdowns against Michigan – three rushing, one passing. Coming out of the game against the Wolverines, McSorley is first in the Big Ten in passing, having completed 147 of 220 attempts for 1,879 yards, with 14 TD passes and only five interceptions. He's averaging 268.4 yards per game, and his pass-efficiency rating (155.0) ranks third in the Big Ten. McSorley appears to be well on his way to throwing for over 3,000 yards for the second consecutive year. Is Mike Gesicki a first-team All-Amer- ica tight end? I believe that a strong case can be made for him. There isn't another tight end in the country who impacts games the way Gesicki does. He's 6-foot- 6, 252 pounds with 4.75-second 40-yard and a 38-inch vertical leap that he dis- played when he jumped clean over Mc- Sorley during a touchdown celebration. Through the first seven games this sea- son, Gesicki has 24 catches for 228 yards and four TDs. He is a matchup nightmare for opponents. That brings us to Penn State's wide re- ceivers. DaeSean Hamilton and Juwan Johnson are doing an outstanding job of complementing Gesicki and Barkley in the passing game, giving the Nittany Lions what I believe to be the best group of receivers in the Big Ten. It appears to be a near certainty that four Penn State pass-catchers will finish the season with more than 40 receptions. Through seven games, Barkley is the Nittany Lions' lead- ing receiver with 32 catches for 448 yards and three TDs. Hamilton is next with 28 catches for 481 yards and four TDs, while Johnson is right behind Hamilton with 27 catches for 333 yards and one TD – the winner in Penn State's comeback victory at Iowa. Twelve players have posted receptions through Penn State's first seven games, amassing 158 catches for 2,029 yards and 16 touchdowns. No single receiver domi- nates Penn State's passing game because Joe Moorhead's offensive package deploys receivers in a way that exploits one-on- one matchups, wherever those matchups may be on the field. It also bears mentioning that the offen- sive line played a very good game against Michigan. The Nittany Lions dominated what had been the No. 1 defense in the country, racking up 506 yards of total of- fense. If the line can perform at that level for the rest of the season, I believe Penn State can match its performance from the second half of the 2016 season. One difference between this year and last year is that the defense has been play- ing very well on a consistent basis. If you had told me a few months ago that the Nittany Lions would be leading the coun- try in scoring defense going into their game against Ohio State, I probably would have told you that you were nuts. But that is exactly what has happened, as oppo- nents have averaged only 9.6 points through seven games. Penn State is fourth in the Big Ten in total defense, allowing just 282.9 yards per game and second in pass defense at (167.6). The Lions also lead the Big Ten in turnover margin (plus- 1.71 per game), tackles for loss (59) and sacks (24), and they are second in inter- ceptions (nine). In the game against the Wolverines, Penn State totaled seven sacks, and eight players got in on the action. Jason Cabinda, Christian Campbell, Kevin Givens, Parker Cothren, Shaka Toney and Curtis Cochran were credited with one sack apiece, while Manny Bowen and Ryan Buchholz both had assists. It's not surprising that Franklin empha- sized the defense in his postgame news conference last Saturday. That has been the most overlooked aspect of Penn State's performance throughout the first seven games of the season. And then there are the special teams. This might be the area where Penn State has improved the most. The Lions have one of the top two punt returners in the Big Ten in DeAndre Thompkins, who has averaged 16.2 yards on 16 returns. They also have an outstanding punter in Blake Gillikin, who is averaging a league-best 44.6 yards per attempt, with a net average of 42.9 yards. Gillikin's 26 punts have been returned for a total of 7 yards. Penn State is second in the Big Ten in both punt-return average (15.1) and kick-re- turn average (29.3). As a whole, the spe- cial teams units have made quite an impressive turnaround during the past two years. All the accolades and headlines Barkley and McSorley have received are deserved, but if you think Penn State is a two-man team, you are dead wrong. This is a com- plete team that is doing an excellent job of playing complementary football heading into the Ohio State game. Saturday can't get here soon enough. Win over Michigan shows there's more to Penn State than a couple of stars PHIL'S CORNER

• Cover