Blue White Illustrated

for 1,002 yards on 174 carries. In 2015, Barkley rushed for 1,076 yards on 182 car- ries. Those eight extra attempts enabled Barkley to barely set the record. However, their yards-per-carry averages were nearly identical (5.9 for Barkley and 5.8 for Dozier) and they both scored seven touchdowns. Dozier is surprised his record lasted so long, but he's happy that it was Barkley who broke it. "He's obviously a great kid," Dozier said recently. "I met him a couple of years back. He's a tremendous com- petitor and he's exciting to watch." Tremendous competitor and exciting to watch would also describe Dozier throughout his career at Penn State, as he became the first player to lead the Nittany Lions in rushing all four years. In his senior year, he was selected a first-team All-American and finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy vote. He topped it off in his last game, running for 99 yards, scoring the winning touchdown and claiming Most Valuable Offensive Player honors in Penn State's 14-10 Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami for the school's second national champi- onship. Making an impression Dozier came to Penn State in the sum- mer of 1983, less than a year after the Nittany Lions won their first national title. The team was on a roll under coach Joe Paterno, playing for the champi- onship in 1978 and losing only five games from 1980-82 while finishing in the top 10 of the polls each of those three years. The football environment was far differ- ent when Barkley donned his blue and white uniform. Penn State was still working its way through NCAA and Big Ten sanctions that followed the San- dusky scandal, with second-year head coach James Franklin having succeeded Bill O'Brien. When Dozier and Barkley reported for preseason practice in the summer of their respective freshman seasons, they were toward the bottom of the depth chart. As the practices and games played out, both moved up. In their season-opening games, they were in for a few plays near the end, and in week two they each car- ried the ball a dozen or so times apiece. They opened some eyes in those games, but week three was an even bigger break- through. Although they were still back- ups, they hurdled the 100-yard rushing plateau, with Barkley gaining 195 yards against Rutgers and Dozier hitting 102 vs. Iowa. However, there was a major hang- up for Dozier when he replaced injured starter Jon Williams in the second half at Beaver Stadium. His two fumbles led to touchdowns that helped Iowa win, 42- 34. "I was never a fumbler," Dozier recalled. "You want to talk about distraught, angry, frustrated. I felt like I left the team down. I get to the sidelines and Paterno sees me. I don't know what he's going to say. In- stead of getting on my behind, he said something like, 'Get your head up. You've got to go back in there.' It was encourag- ing. That made a difference. Especially when you're a freshman and you're trying to make an impression and trying to help the team. It gave me a lot of confidence when I went back into the game." That confidence only grew stronger over the next three and a half seasons. TRUE FRESHMAN FIRSTS Except for a few years during World Wars I and II and the Korean War, true freshmen had been ineligible to play varsity football from the early 1900s until 1972. That year, the NCAA changed the rule. Coach Joe Paterno was reluctant to use freshmen, believing they should spend their first year concentrating on academics and learning Penn State's football system. Here are some of the true freshman firsts that occurred during the rest of Paterno's coaching tenure: SEPT. 22, 1973 Offensive linemen Brad Benson and Dave Shukri become the first true freshmen to play in a game, entering in the second half of a 39-0 vic- tory over Navy at Annapolis. OCT. 12, 1974 Tight end Randy Sidler becomes the first true freshman to start since 1951, helping Penn State rout Wake Forest, 55-0, on Homecoming. SEPT. 11, 1976 Tailback Matt Suhey is the first true freshman to run for more than 100 yards in a game (119 yards and a 6-yard touchdown on 23 carries), as Penn State edges Stanford, 15-12, in the season opener at Beaver Stadium. OCT. 21, 1988 Tony Sacca is the first Penn State true freshman since 1951 to start at quarterback, throwing touchdown passes of 60 and 4 yards in a 55-9 vic- tory over host Temple. OCT. 26, 1996 Tackle John Blick becomes the first true freshman to start on the offensive line, helping Penn State earn a 49-26 road victory over Indiana. OCT. 16, 1999 Center Joe Iorio is the first true freshman walk-on to start in a game, as Penn State defeats visiting Ohio State, 23-10. SEPT. 4, 2010 Rob Bolden is the first true freshman quarterback to start in the season opener, completing 20 of 29 passes for 228 yards and touchdowns of 20 and 22 yards without an interception, as Penn State beats Youngstown State, 44-14, at Beaver Stadium. –L.P.

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