Saquon Barkley punctuates Heisman campaign with — another — exclamation mark

With smeared eye black running down his cheeks Saquon Barkley made a kid’s day before hustling to the locker room, stopping underneath the Beaver Stadium tunnel to autograph a blue and white Penn State football.

In reality, though, Barkley made everyone’s day on Saturday. Well, at least those who wore white in the silver Beaver Stadium bleachers.

Barkley did it again. And again. And again.

The Heisman Trophy front-runner scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) and tallied 176 all-purpose yards in Penn State’s 42-13 whooping of Michigan. He became the first player in Penn State history to notch 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards and the fourth to do so in the Big Ten .

After a pair of so-so weeks, Barkley stepped up with the country waiting on the edge of its seat. Those who tuned in for college football’s game of the week saw a once-in-a-generation talent take yet another step toward hoisting that bronze statue in December.

“Saquon’s the best player in the country. I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki said. “Whether he’s catching it, he’s running it, he’s pass blocking, he’s doing it to the best of his abilities. And those abilities are pretty special.”

Added linebacker Koa Farmer: “Saquon’s a special kid, man. He’s the truth.”

On Saturday, he was that and more. He ignited an already-stirred Beaver Stadium crowd of 110,823. And he did it from the get-go.

On the second play of the game, Barkley took a direct snap, dummied a handoff to Trace McSorley and utterly fooled a top-of-the-line Michigan defense. The Wolverines could do nothing but watch as Barkley bolted for greener pastures up the gut, darting untouched 69 yards for a touchdown that darn near brought the house down.

“I blocked my guy, moved him out of the hole and I see Saquon kick it right out and around him,” Penn State right guard Brendan Mahon said. “You knew he was taking it to the house.”

The direct snap wrinkle, which was installed in training camp and used for the first time this season, was one Barkley was comfortable with. The back, the coaching staff and his teammates all thought it was a twist that’d work against the Wolverines, who ranked sixth nationally in rush defense entering Beaver Stadium.

Through its first six games, Michigan was surrendering only 85.8 rushing yards per game. Barkley nearly topped that on one play.

Even though James Franklin downplayed the significance of the touchdown emotionally, Barkley’s first-quarter touchdown set the tone.

He wasn’t finished, either. Barkley bounced a second rushing touchdown on the next series, and in the fourth quarter completed an initially bobbled 42-yard scoring grab. Matched up with Michigan linebacker Mike McCray in the slot, Barkley torched him. That wasn’t the hard part.

“It hit my fingertips, bounced off me,” Barkley said, “but I was able to run through it and get into the end zone.”

The touchdown gave Penn State a commanding 35-13 lead, all but locking up its biggest win of the season.

Barkley’s teammates were jacked. Wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton worked with Barkley on his route-running this week. “He took some of my coaching,” the senior said smiling.

Meanwhile, Gesicki had a clear view 25 yards away.

“Back in the day, if you drop a catch it’s 10 pushups and if you bobbled it it’s five,” Gesicki said with a grin. “He might have five pushups for that. But I’d take a 50-yard touchdown for five pushups any day.”

So would Barkley, and so would everyone frantically waving their white pom-poms at Beaver Stadium or jumping for joy in the comfort of their living rooms.

Barkley put on a show for the nation with the Heisman ceremony 48 days away. He all but RSVP’d on Saturday night.

This story was originally published October 22, 2017 at 12:54 AM with the headline "Saquon Barkley punctuates Heisman campaign with — another — exclamation mark."