Saquon Barkley:
Keeping Happy Valley Happy
Freshman Saquon Barkley stuns as he leads the Penn State Lions to victory.
October 2015
Adam Ring '18
The Penn State football program has a new stud running back by the name of Saquon Barkley. Barkley is a five-foot eleven inch 215 pound back out of Whitehall High School. The freshman, who has put up the highest amount of yardage out of all four rushers on the team, had four touchdowns in the first three games he has played in the 2015 season for the lions.
Barkley recently was competing with junior Akeel Lynch for the starting spot before both fell to injury in the game against San Diego State at Beaver Stadium. At first sight it looked as though Barkley’s injury was less serious than Lynch’s, although there is no word on the severity of either.
Barkley is averaging 8.9 yards a carry, which is an incredible statistic for any college running back, let alone a freshman in the almighty Big 10 conference. Barkley also has gained 15 first downs over the course of his three games, in which Penn State came out victorious. In Barkley’s first game as a Nittany Lion, he recorded a highlight play as he hurdled over a Buffalo defender on a gain of over ten yards. With Penn State’s offensive line, Barkley is a perfect fit because he is extremely agile and can often make an opponent miss a tackle. Barkley may only have one catch, but he made it count as he juked and spun around five defenders before fully extending on a dive into the endzone for a Penn State score.
Star quarterback Christian Hackenberg has not lived up to his expectations, but Saquon Barkley is the offensive star keeping Happy Valley happy.