Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916653
P O S T S E A S O N P R E V I E W >> P E N N S T A T E THE LION KING C O V E R S T O R Y With his performances and his attitude, Saquon Barkley has staked a claim as one of PSU's all-time greats aquon Barkley knew the question was coming sooner or later. Following a 35-6 victory against Rutgers in what was likely his penultimate game at Beaver Stadium, sooner came more quickly than even he had maybe anticipated. Sitting in the media room after the early-November clash, the junior running back found himself surrounded by reporters eager to jump two steps ahead. With only lowly Nebraska and a trip to Maryland left on Penn State's schedule, Barkley was asked whether or not he would play in the team's bowl game, wherever it might be, whenever it might take place, against an opponent still a month away from being determined. "That's not something that I'm going to even talk about, to be honest," he told re- porters. "That's so far [away]. Like I said, you can only control what you can con- trol. I'm not even worried about that. I'm aware of what decisions guys made in the past, but we were in different situations. Different teams. Different players." A week later, Barkley followed through by accentuating those differences. Again surrounded by re- porters following a 56-44 vic- tory against Nebraska, this time Barkley took it upon him- self to clarify his earlier state- ment. Emphasizing the team accomplishments he hoped to help deliver to the Nittany Lions, namely a second consecutive 10-2 regular season and another prime bowl opportunity, Barkley hinted the he in- tended to participate in any and all re- maining games on Penn State's 2017 slate. "Why wouldn't I?" he said, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. Given those different situations, differ- ent teams and different players that Barkley himself had brought up just seven days prior, the reporter offered the recent example of Leonard Fournette opting not to play for LSU in the Citrus Bowl. "Actually, let me clear that up," Barkley interjected, drawing his audience closer. "There's an article that came out earlier… in the off-season saying that I probably wouldn't play in the bowl game. That is false." Barkley, as gracious and diplomatic a player as the Nittany Lions have had in the past decade, made sure not to take credit away from the story's author. He did a tremendous job, Barkley said, but the broader media and public at large had misunderstood the point. "I said that I would play in the bowl game because I would play for my team- mates and play for my brothers," he explained. "But what I was basically saying was, I understand why some other players have not played in the bowl game. I'm different from Christian McCaf- fery and all those other guys. Our situa- tions are different. We're all different players, different people, and our situa- tions are different." The biggest and most obvious differ- ence, he pointed out, was that he was feeling good physically as Penn State's regular season drew to a close, while Fournette and McCaffery were both, to Barkley's recollection, banged up at the same point in their final years. Their de- cisions were based on the need to recover and train for the NFL Combine and en- hance their draft stock. Given the sub- stantial differences that separate guaranteed rookie contracts from pick to pick, round to round, those decisions were worthwhile for those players and their families. In evaluating his own situation closing out the regular season and preparing for a bowl game, Barkley believed that he didn't need to make the same calcula- tions. He had played in all 12 games, both on offense and special teams, and yet showed no visible signs of injury. In those 12 games, Barkley finished with 199 carries for 1,134 yards and 16 touch- downs on the ground, 47 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns, and 15 kickoff returns for 426 yards and two scores. The numbers were enough to land him a spot on the Associated Press and Walter Camp All-America first teams, along with a bevy of conference awards and first-team nods, including the Big UP AND OVER Barkley hurdles a Rutgers defender at the goal line during Penn State's 35-6 victory over the Scarlet Knights. Photo by Steve Manuel S |