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Penn State gets major spark from pair of freshmen

<p>Near the end of an endless storm, in a game as dreary as the day, a sliver of sunshine radiated on Penn State.</p><p>His name is Saquon Barkley.</p><p>And he burst through the black clouds hovering over Penn State&#8217;s ground game like a bolt of lightning from above.</p><p>He struck that suddenly.</p><p>Spinning away from an attempted tackle, Barkley burst through a bullish Buffalo defense and darted for a 33-yard gain on Penn State&#8217;s first play of the final quarter. He immediately followed that play with a leap over a Buffalo tackler on another surge that gained 17 yards.</p><p>The effort that produced 50 yards over two carries from a ground game that was drawing disenchantment from the angry-sounding stands brought a lethargic game to life.</p><p>It made the crowd roar. It led Penn State to score. It left everyone in Happy Valley wanting for more.</p><p>&#8220;Saquon Barkley, I thought, gave us a spark,&#8221; Penn State coach James Franklin said. &#8220;Did some exciting things.&#8221;</p><p>Mainly, Barkley made a beleaguered ground game seem dangerous.</p><p>He finished with 115 yards, the first time a freshman running back has hit the 100-yard rushing mark in five years. He scored his first college touchdown on a 9-yard run with little more than nine minutes to play.</p><p>&#8220;My first college touchdown &#8212; I&#8217;ll never forget it,&#8221; Barkley said in a video interview published by Penn State, which typically doesn&#8217;t grant interviews for true freshmen. &#8220;First time in Beaver Stadium, it was awesome. I was real excited, had a great time.&#8221;</p><p>He made it show time.</p><p>Barkley turned a miserable game of offensive football for Penn State and a six-point lead into a run-away, 27-14 victory over Buffalo.</p><p>And he did most of this in the fourth quarter of his second college football game.</p><p>&#8220;It definitely gave us a lift,&#8221; Penn State&#8217;s starting running back Akeel Lynch said. &#8220;Football&#8217;s all momentum.&#8221;</p><p>For the longest time, momentum seemed to be pushing Penn State backwards.</p><p>During a day-long rain at Beaver Stadium that had Penn State&#8217;s struggling receivers handling passes about as well as slick soap, Lynch managed just 54 yards on 19 carries. Brandon Polk picked up 45 yards and averaged 15 per carry, but those were on trick plays. Mark Allen got a couple of yards on his only carry and the Lions were stuffed four times on third-down running plays. Before the fourth quarter rolled around, Barkley produced just 14 yards on four carries.</p><p>Then Barkley put the offense on his back.</p><p>He charged the whole team with an electricity that seemed shocking, only because it came from nowhere - gaining 101 yards, three game-changing carries and one touchdown in the final 13 minutes while jump-starting an offense that was stalled for nearly two weeks.</p><p>Magically, Penn State&#8217;s points became plenty. The quarterback, Christian Hackenberg, appeared more confident. That Penn State offensive line that was berated for being unable to block even average college defenders suddenly seemed like an unstoppable force.</p><p>&#8220;You get somebody back there who can make something happen, guys block better,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;It has that impact on everybody.&#8221;</p><p>It impacted Lynch&#8217;s playing time, and his touches.</p><p>But somewhere under the rainbow, the starting running back refused to sulk over his younger backup&#8217;s success.</p><p>&#8220;As an older guy, of course you want to help the team out,&#8221; Lynch said. &#8220;The kid was hot. When a guy&#8217;s hot, you&#8217;ve got to give him the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Chances are, Barkley will be bringing it out of the backfield a lot more in the coming weeks.</p><p>&#8220;I do think Saquon Barkley, being able to make people miss and break tackles, is helpful to us,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t run like a freshman. His ability to make people miss and break tackles, you usually don&#8217;t get that combination in a freshman, it&#8217;s one or the other. He showed those things in practice. Now he showed it in a game.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s more than a sign of clouds clearing on a rainy day. For Penn State, it&#8217;s a ray of hope.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> b8Ar_cqIGn8</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Ar_cqIGn8</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> RB Akeel Lynch on the run game and true freshman teammate Saquon Barkley.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Derek Levarse | Times Leader</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Saquon Barkley brings life to Penn State’s ground game