At 2:46 p.m. on Saturday, Saquon Barkley did what no one else had been able to do amid the heavy rain all afternoon inside Beaver Stadium.
Or in the seven days since a 27-10 sacking by Temple, for that matter.
No player, coach, fan or running back.
Saquon Barkley gave Penn State hope.
The Nittany Lion offense had the ball first-and-10 on its own Penn State 29, early in the fourth quarter and barely leading, 13-7.
That’s when the freshman from the Lehigh Valley reeled off a 33-yard run, good for a first down and a dull roar from the crowd. It was only the fifth time he carried the ball in his college career.
At 2:48 p.m. — on the very next play — he gave Penn State life. And a whole lot more.
Barkley delivered a play that may well be remembered as the one that not only sparked a drive and an offense and a team and a soggy Beaver Stadium crowd, but the Penn State football program as well.
At the Penn State 29, Barkley took the hand-off from Christian Hackenberg and dashed up the middle and literally leaped over Buffalo safety Ryan Williamson on his way to a 17-yard run, past the outstretched arms of Buffalo linebacker Nick Gilbo.
He didn’t score. But it was a quantum leap.
What had been a struggle against a lower-end opponent, with Penn State only a TD from its second desultory defeat in as any weeks, was suddenly something else. Barkley, who players had signaled as the star of summer camp, had exploded onto the scene. And he ignited a fire under Penn State.
It wasn’t LaVar’s Leap, but the magnitude of it all could prove to be just as big.
“I thought gave us a spark; he came in as a freshman and did some exciting things,” Penn State coach James Franklin.
On the very next play, Hackenberg threw a five-yard touchdown pass to DaeSean Hamilton. Penn State led 20-7.
Barkley had carried once for one yard in Penn State’s 27-10 Temple at last week. And in the third quarter against Buffalo he ran for 3 and then 5 and then 1 yard on a singular drive. But none of those carries foreshadowed anything special. (Although his Whitehall High School career certainly did; as a senior, he 31 TDs and 1,856 yards, with a n 8.6-yard average.)
When the Nittany Lions got the ball back, Barkley was back in the lineup. And the Penn State offense – playing the second half with injured offensive tackle Andrew Nelson – was now clearly on the back of his No. 26 jersey.
The Nittany Lions scored again. Barkley carried the ball twice, both for nine yards, with his second run resulting in the first TD of his young career, giving Penn State a 27-7 lead.
Barkley finished with 115 yards on just 12 carries — and in the second half — and was clearly the catalyst for Penn State’s 27-14 victory, before an announced Beaver Stadium crowd of 93,065. He was the first true freshman to run for 100 yards since Silas Redd against Northwestern in 2010.
“We’re going to continue to develop Saquon and his ability to make people miss and break tackles,” Franklin said. “He’s making people miss, but he’s also breaking tackles and you don’t get that kind of combination in a freshman. They’re usually one or the other. He’s going to have a significant role in our team. He showed those things at camp, during in practice and he showed it in the game. His confidence will continue to grow, and the O-line will continue to grow. When you have a guy making plays like that, who is able to make something happen, guys block better. It has that type of impact on everybody.”
Three of Barkley’s freshman teammates also carried the Nittany Lions’ offensive output: Brandon Polk added three carries for 45 yards, including a 22-yard TD run; Nick Scott, with a 58-yard kickoff return; and DeAndre Thompson, with a 58-yard punt return. Hackenberg was 14 of 27 for 128 yards and was not sacked once.
Penn State kicker Joey Julius added field goals from 22 and 21 yards. The Nittany Lion defense was led by end Carl Nassib, with an interception; Austin Johnson, with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 sacks for losses, with nine tackles overall, and linebackers Troy Reeder (seven tackles) and Jason Cabinda (six.)
Penn State, now 1-1, hosts Rutgers next Saturday at 8 p.m. in Beaver Stadium. Buffalo fell to 1-1.
