Penn State football’s Saquon Barkley earns rave reviews by Big Ten coaches, players

Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin took a sip of water, looked up from his plastic cup and cracked a grin.

The former Michigan and Florida defensive coordinator has a simple solution to slowing down Penn State star running back Saquon Barkley, one that other Big Ten coaches might want to jot down.

“Have your offense stay on the field a lot, and keep him on the sideline,” Durkin said Monday afternoon at Big Ten media days. “He’s as good as (anyone) there is out there in the country.”

While James Franklin and Penn State’s three player representatives — seniors Jason Cabinda, Marcus Allen and Mike Gesicki — are scheduled to speak with the media on Tuesday, the Barkley talk didn’t slow down on Day 1 of the two-day event.

A popular comparison making the rounds recently is former Ohio State star Ezekiel Elliott. Former Buckeyes defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said as much in a Sports Illustrated story published last week — and his Ohio State boss agreed.

Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer — who watched the Penn State back rack up 194 rushing yards as a freshman at The Horseshoe — called the Barkley-Elliott comparison “very fair.”

“I think he’s that quality of a back,” Meyer added.

His conference peers were impressed, too.

Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst found out first-hand in Indianapolis just how dynamic Barkley can be. The Lehigh Valley product had 103 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner, in Penn State’s conference title win over the Badgers.

Chryst — Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator from 2005-11 — mentored running backs like Melvin Gordon, James White and Montee Ball. The coach knows a forceful running back when he sees one, and Barkley fits in that category.

“There’s a certain physical component to it with his power, his quickness,” Chryst said. “I don’t know him. I just see him from across the field. ... But he’s got all those things that make for a special type of back.”

Indiana head coach Tom Allen — the Hoosiers’ defensive coordinator last season — game-planned for Barkley well in 2016. In Penn State’s 45-31 win over Indiana, Barkley managed only 58 rushing yards on 33 attempts.

Still, Allen raved about the Heisman Trophy contender.

“It takes more than one guy to get him on the ground. You better get a lot of hats to the ball because he’s just so powerful and quick,” Allen said. “He’s impressive. He was impressive last year, and he’s even stronger it looks like — and a step quicker, which is scary to think of.”

So, what would make it easier to stop him?

“If we played with 12 (players), you’d feel a lot better,” Allen said with a laugh.

Michigan State linebacker Chris Frey would certainly welcome the extra help.

Frey and the Spartans — who, like the Hoosiers, kept Barkley in check with 14 rushing yards last season — said the biggest thing was Michigan State’s front seven making contact in the backfield.

Read keys and fill the holes fast. “That bottled him up and gave him nowhere to go,” Frey said.

But even Frey knows what Barkley is capable of. He’s seen the tape and believes the hype.

When the Nittany Lions face Michigan State again on Nov. 4, the star’s skill-set will be in the back of his mind.

And the same can be said for the rest of the Big Ten.

“He’s just shifty. He’s really fast. He’s really quick. And he has that ridiculous hurdle that no one can predict when it’s coming,” Frey added. “It makes it a lot harder to tackle him because you never know what he’s going to do.

“He’s just a different breed.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Penn State football’s Saquon Barkley earns rave reviews by Big Ten coaches, players."