Blue White Illustrated

B L U E - W H I T E G A M E P R E V I E W ll eyes were on Saquon Barkley as he accelerated toward the end zone after taking a short pass from Trace Mc- Sorley. Wait, strike that. Most eyes were on Barkley. James Franklin's eyes were on Brandon Polk. The speedy wide receiver had been lined up on the far side of the field, but as Barkley sprinted down the left sideline, showing off the speed that would later dazzle pro coaches at the NFL Scouting Combine, Polk was catching up fast. If Barkley looked as though he'd been shot out of a pistol – which was how he usually looked when he found open field – Polk looked as though he'd been launched from a rail gun. As they approached the goal line at the end of an 85-yard catch- and-run, the young wideout was still moving faster than his famously fast teammate, having positioned himself between Barkley and the nearest would-be Georgia State tackler. It looked for a brief moment as though he might even be the first player on either team to reach the end zone. That did not go unnoticed on the Penn State sideline. "We all know how fast Saquon is," Franklin said. "Watch Brandon Polk: He's on the opposite side of the field, he sprints down, catches Saquon and gets in front of a defender, and then he goes into the end zone and celebrates, and he's as happy or more happy than Saquon is." Polk had reason to be happy. The play combined two things he likes to do: put his blazing speed to use, and celebrate Nit- tany Lion touchdowns, no matter who scores them. "I always tell the running backs, if they get in open field, I'm going to do my best to get down there and block for them," he said. "If they're running into the end zone, I'm running down there with them just to celebrate. Scoring in college football – scoring in general – is hard. With all the hard work that we put in every day to get to the point where we're scoring a touchdown, I'm excited. I want to be the first one down there with them, to celebrate with them, so that they're not down there by themselves. That's kind of my deal." If all goes to plan, the party will continue this coming fall. Heading into the 2018 season, Polk is one of the more experi- enced players in a receiver corps that is undergoing a partial rebuild after losing the program's all-time lead- ing receiver, DaeSean Hamilton, along with fre- quent starter Saeed Blacknall and high-ceiling backup Irvin Charles. Returning are starters Juwan Johnson, a redshirt junior, and DeAndre Thompkins, a fifth-year senior. But if the Nittany Lions are going to keep their passing game atop the Big Ten, where it finished last year with an average of 290.2 yards per game, they will have to find some wingmen for the proven wideouts. Polk, who will be a redshirt junior this fall, is the most ex- perienced of those wingmen, and he's got some serious after- burners. He began playing the game when he was 5 years old. A IMPACT PLAYER Polk is vying for a starting position this spring after playing a support- ing role last year. As a redshirt sophomore, he caught 10 passes for 130 yards. Photo by Steve Manuel |

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