EAST LANSING, Mich. — Penn State center Angelo Mangiro knows what to look for when picking a good – hmmm, no, great — running back.
And he saw it the first time he saw Saquon Barkley.
“When I see a back, I check out his legs and his calves first. And his ass,” Mangiro said on Saturday. “That’s what I usually try to check out on a football player.
“And the kid (Barkley)? His attributes right there are phenomenal.”
No ifs, ands or butts about it: Barkley, a 5-foot-11 true freshman who weighs in at 222 pounds, has calves, quads, hams and buttocks that are decidedly all-Big Ten. The proof is in his carries.
On Saturday, Barkley legged out 103 yards on 17 carries in a 55-16 loss to No. 5 Michigan State here in Spartan Stadium on Saturday. That gives him 1,007 for the 2015 season, breaking D.J. Dozier’s record of 1,002 yards for a Penn State freshman (true or redshirt), set in 1983.
“I’m really happy for him. He’s a great kid. He’s worked hard,” Mangiro said. “It’s a credit to him and our coaches for bringing him along. He’s made his share of mistakes like everyone else, but he’s been progressing each week.”
Dozier played in 12 of Penn State’s 13 games in that 8-4-1 season in 1983, while Barkley has appeared in just in 10 games for the 7-5 Nittany Lions. And one of those games was the season-opener against Temple, when he had a single carry for one yard, and another came against San Diego State, when Barkley had 62 yards on eight carries while playing just the first half. (He missed the next two games, against Army and Indiana, with a high ankle sprain.)
Boiled down, Barkley has played in 8-1/2 games for Penn State, which ups his 100.7-yard per game average to a studly 120.6. Overall, he’s had five games of 100 yards or more, tying Dozier’s record with one yet-to-named bowl game to play.
“I know he got dinged up early in the season,” Mangiro said, “so it’s good for a young guy to learn about rehab and what you have to do.”
A FRANKLIN FRESHMAN
On a roster that is comprised of two-thirds freshmen and sophomores, Barkley is a player who head coach James Franklin can point to as what the future could possibly hold for Penn State.
“He’s a talented guy. He’s an example of a guy who came in here with the right attitude and tremendous ability,” Franklin said. “He’s worked really, really hard. And when his opportunity came he took advantage of it. He has a lot of skills, in terms of size, speed and the ability to make people miss and to break tackles. It’s something really positive to build on our future — you’re talking about the offensive line’s improvement, you’re talking about the tight end position’s development and then you talk about the running backs.”
Barkley had a particularly robust second quarter against the Spartans, rushing for 63 yards on seven quarters when the game was still close (Michigan State led 20-10 at the half). Barkley had runs of 22 yards and 21 yards in the second quarter, with his next carry after the 22-yarder perhaps among the most impressive. On third-and-23 midway through the quarter, Barkley reeled off the long run, which left Penn State a yard short of a first town on its own 46-yard line. PSU called his number again – immediately – on fourth-and-1, and Barkley came through with a two-yard run and a first down.
“I think Saquon was a bright spot,” Franklin said.
Barkley’s 100-yard effort against Michigan State, at 11-1 one of the nation’s best teams, was no fluke. Barkley shined against some of the best defenses in the Big Ten – and the nation – in 2015.
He had 194 yards against Ohio State, which entered the weekend with the No. 8 defense and No. 29 rushing defense in the country. Against Northwestern’s defense, ranked 11th and 19th, he ran for 120 yards – with 80 of those yards coming in the final quarter of a 23-21 loss. And last week against Michigan’s defense, ranked second overall and fourth against the run, he had a hard-fought 68 yards, built around a 56-yard first-quarter burst that set up Penn State’s only lead, 3-0, against the Wolverines.
All four contests were losses. Barkley also went over 100 yards in victories against Rutgers (195) and Buffalo (115). On the season, his 1,007 yards have come on 165 carries – an average of 6.1 yards per carry.
Barkley is the 15th Penn State running back to have run for 1,000 yards in a season, a task that has been accomplished 23 times thanks to multiple 1,000-yard years by some players. Larry Johnson’s 2,087 yards tops the list, while Zach Zwinak’s even thousand in 2012 was the most recent before Barkley did it.
Mangiro, a fifth-year senior co-captain, has played center, guard and tackle this season for the much-maligned Nittany Lion offensive line. As such, he takes special pride in Barkley’s accomplishment and what’s necessary to get there.
“Having a 1,000-yard rusher is a great feeling.” Mangiro said. “It’s a tribute to the blocking you’re able to produce. … You need offensive linemen getting hats on hats. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that all year. You need a quarterback who’s going to put us in an advantageous position. Christian’s a smart guy and able to check out of things and out us in the right leverage situations with the run game.
“And then,” said Mangiro, finishing his formula for a thousand, “you need a back like Saquon.”
