Blue White Illustrated

When fans and analysts debate the merits of those players, they sometimes stray into a different but related conver- sation in which they create the perfect tailback by imagining a guy with some combination of all those attributes, a guy with, say, Carter's speed and Enis's pun- ishing strength. It's a purely hypothetical exercise, if not outright magical thinking. Or at least it used to be. Barkley is that guy come to life. Indeed, that's what makes him great. He's got elements of all of his predeces- sors in his game, and not just a dash of this or a pinch of that. He's got quality and quantity. Facing Washington in the Fiesta Bowl, he displayed the power to stiff-arm All-America defensive tackle Vita Vea into the ground and the speed to outrace safeties and cornerbacks into the end zone on a 92-yard run. In addition to his rushing yards, he caught seven passes for 38 yards, and the only reason he didn't have any kickoff return yardage was be- cause the coaching staff handed that job to Miles Sanders to help minimize the risk of injury in Barkley's final game. After the 2017 regular season, Barkley was named the winner of the Paul Hor- nung Award, which goes to the most versatile player in college football. He had been among the nation's leaders in all-purpose yardage all season, finishing second in the Football Bowl Subdivision at the conclusion of the bowl season with an average of 179.15 yards per game. James Franklin said, "In my 22 years of coaching, I have never coached or seen a player who can affect the game the way Saquon Barkley does. The Hornung Award is not only honoring the most versatile player in college football, but is also recognizing one of the best people in college football." Barkley, who signed with Penn State at a time when the Nittany Lions were still recovering from the NCAA's sanctions, did not get to play on an undefeated or national championship-winning team at Penn State, and he finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting this past year. His successors, starting with Sanders, will likely have some advantages that he did not, particularly with respect to the depth that Penn State has been building on the offensive line. That Barkley did not enjoy quite as much team success as Warner, Carter and D.J. Dozier was by no means an indictment of his career. Before departing, Barkley told Sanders, "Leave me some records." Sanders is a former four-star prospect with a high ceiling, but it's going to be a very long time before Barkley starts disappearing from the record books. Until he does, it's hard to think of him as anything other than the best running back ever to play for the Nittany Lions, no matter how nebulous the criteria may be. ■ with T.J. Watt trailing him, Barkley hauled it in for the go-ahead touchdown in what would turn into a 38-31 victory. 4 PENN STATE at IOWA Sept. 23, 2017 It's hard to pick a single moment from this game, arguably Barkley's greatest at Penn State, but he had a 44-yard carry in the third quarter that featured a jaw- dropping stutter-step on the sideline that sent All-Big Ten linebacker Josey Jewell sprawling out of bounds. "How does he do that?" ABC analyst Kirk Herbstreit marveled. "It's incredible." Barkley finished with a school-record 358 all-purpose yards, and the Lions needed every last one of them to pull off a 21-19 comeback victory. 5 PENN STATE at OHIO STATE Oct. 28, 2017 Urban Meyer looked like he could have torn a Columbus phone book in half after watching Barkley race 97 yards for a touchdown on the opening kick- off. He had fielded the ball at the 3 and found a huge seam, as kicker Sean Nuernberger was the only Buckeye to lay a hand on him. Penn State had caught some flak earlier in the season for using its star running back to re- turn kicks, but as far as the coaching staff was concerned, the injury risk was low, while the benefits of using the country's best open- field runner on kick- offs were substantial. Said Charles Huff, Penn State's special teams coordinator at the time, "We're not idiots." Barkley returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last season, proving the wisdom of that de- cision. ■ SAQUON BARKLEY Steve Manuel

• Cover