Lions back up Barkley's brilliance

Saquon Barkley didn’t, hasn’t, and won’t put up a fight over his absence from the Heisman ceremony earlier this month.

Ryan Bates, however, will.

Given the opportunity, the Nittany Lion offensive lineman was not alone in expressing his displeasure during the program’s pre-Fiesta Bowl media day. In fact, asked whether or not he was disappointed or frustrated by Barkley’s absence, Bates made his stance plain.

“Absolutely,” said Bates. “There’s not a question in my eyes that he’s the best player in the country. Just because he might not have had the production the past couple of weeks, he’s without a doubt the best player in the country.

“I think everybody knows already what Saquon can do and who Saquon is. I don’t think there’s a person in all of college football who doesn’t know who Saquon Barkley is.”

Certainly, Barkley’s own response to the hubbub in its immediate aftermath offered another opportunity for the junior running back to demonstrated as much.

Expressing the humility that has defined his entire three-year career as a Nittany Lion, all in the face of wild success, Barkley’s response was of course predictably diplomatic. Without protestation, the star running back offered an alternative perspective to the one that dominated the Penn State fan base, players, and coaches in the announcement’s initial aftermath.

Finishing his junior season as an NCAA Consensus All-American, the Big Ten’s Offensive, Running Back, and Return Specialist of the Year, plus the conference’s Silver Football winner, Barkley instead thanked his teammates, fans, and coaches for their support after the announcement had been made. Congratulating the three finalists invited to the New York ceremony, Barkley noted his true pride at having earned the respect of his teammates and coaches via an Instagram post.

“Thank you to all of my fans and teammates for the consideration! However, like I stated previously I do not need a trophy or to be named a finalist to define me as a player,” Barkley said. “I’ve earned the respect from my teammates and coaches, therefore, at the end of the day that’s the only thing that matters! Congratulations to all the deserving Heisman finalists! Once again thank you!”

Finishing the Nittany Lions’ 12-game regular season with 1,134 yards and 16 touchdowns on 199 carries, Barkley added another 594 yards and three scores on 47 receptions, had 426 yards on 15 kick returns including a pair returned for touchdowns, and even completed two passes.

That production was not without its limitations down the season’s stretch, though.

Held to 44 yards and a score at Ohio State, Barkley followed it with 63 yards, 35 yards, 158 yards and 77 yards in performances against Michigan State, Rutgers, Nebraska, and Maryland, respectively. Although he scored eight touchdowns on the ground in that five-game span, his combined 377 yards on 82 carries were not the monster statistics commonly attached to the Heisman winner.

Prompted to offer a reflection on how those numbers came to be, Bates deflected responsibility away from Barkley’s performances.

“It just might have been on the play, running into a bad look, we might have messed something up up front. I don’t know,” said Bates. “We played a lot of good teams this year and we played a lot of good defenses. A lot of defenses, they try to revolve their scheme around Saquon because, like I said, Saquon is the best player in all of college football. Teams load the box a lot, they bring down an extra safety, they blitz with the corner, they twist on our run games and they make it hard for the front to block the scheme. It’s a multitude of things that could have gone wrong. It could have been a bad call. It’s a multitude of things.”

Still, as a roommate and teammate of Barkley’s, the production and experience playing at his side prompted Amani Oruwariye to believe Barkley belonged in New York. To no surprise of Oruwariye, though, that Barkley continued to stay humble throughout his meteoric rise the past few seasons until now was one of the characteristics he’s come to understand best.

“It didn't surprise me. We talked about it,” said Oruwariye. “Obviously you would love to even be in the race or win it, but he's not the type of guy that lingers over that kind of stuff. He's fine.”

In all likelihood, Barkley will be more than just fine moving forward.

Though he has not announced anything beyond an intention to play alongside his Nittany Lion teammates in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30 in Arizona, multiple mock NFL Draft analyses show Barkley projected to go in the top five picks in April.

Betraying nothing of any upcoming decisions, Bates explained what it’s meant to play alongside Barkley for the past two seasons.

“He’s one of a kind. There’s no other player in all of college football like him. I’m not the only one who thinks that,” said Bates. “If this is his last time playing with us, that’s fine. If he goes in the draft this year, he’s going to be a top two pick in the draft. I wish nothing but the best for him.”