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<p>There was a time when Koa Farmer worked regularly with the kick returners.</p><p>In past seasons, before he became a full-time linebacker, Farmer&#8217;s natural athleticism led to Penn State coaches trying him out on special teams, where he even broke a return off for a touchdown during a past training camp.</p><p>Now the kick return job belongs to Saquon Barkley, and Farmer is one of the guys blocking for him.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, I&#8217;m a retired kickoff returner,&#8221; Farmer said with a laugh.</p><p>Not that he doesn&#8217;t daydream about fielding a short kick himself.</p><p>&#8220;I think when 26 is back there &#8212; I mean, I wouldn&#8217;t want to kick it to him,&#8221; Farmer said. &#8220;I&#8217;m looking at the ball every single time we go out there to get that opportunity. I always tell (special teams coach Charles Huff), &#8216;If I take it back, you&#8217;d better put be back on kickoff return.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>Looking to get more out of their return game this season, the Nittany Lions have their Heisman candidate running back as the their top option, as well as the aggressive DeAndre Thompkins on punt returns.</p><p>While Thompkins already has a touchdown this season in the opener against Akron, Barkley hasn&#8217;t had too many opportunities &#8212; the Lions have given up just 14 points so far.</p><p>Some eyebrows were raised when Barkley went out for his first attempt of the season &#8212; with the Lions leading 35-0 to open the second half against the Zips in wet weather. Though he didn&#8217;t say it at the time, Lions coach James Franklin had decided to make Barkley the primary return man during training camp but wanted to keep a lid on it at the start of the season.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want that on the depth chart because I didn&#8217;t want people scheming to kick it away from him,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the reality of it. Our team and Saquon has known that he was the starting kickoff return guy from the beginning. I just didn&#8217;t want to put it on the depth chart from a public perspective because people are going to start kicking away from it.</p><p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;s what&#8217;s going to happen now.&#8221;</p><p>Though the decision may have been made in camp, the roots of the idea go back a year earlier when Barkley approached the coaching staff in the summer to ask for a shot.</p><p>At the time, Barkley cited the success of former Stanford star Christian McCaffrey, who was the national leader in all-purpose yardage thanks to his prowess as a return man.</p><p>Barkley has said this season that it&#8217;s a role he hopes to continue.</p><p>One concern is that the extra usage could increase Barkley&#8217;s chances of injury. But Franklin brought up McCaffrey as his example for how it could work.</p><p>&#8220;I studied this,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;You look at what Stanford did with their starting tailback. Had a huge impact as a tailback, as well as a punt return guy and as well as a kick return guy.</p><p>&#8220;One of the things that I don&#8217;t really understand is everybody talks about how important special teams are, and it&#8217;s just as important as offense and defense &#8212; until you try to use your starters on special teams. I don&#8217;t really get it. To me, it seems like talking out of both sides of your mouth, and we&#8217;ve never done that.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Emotions up</strong></p><p>One of the challenges for the Lions heading into Saturday&#8217;s game against Georgia State, a game in which they are 37-point favorites, is keeping a consistent energy level.</p><p>Franklin said Thursday on his weekly radio show that it hasn&#8217;t been an issue in preparing for the Panthers, who are sandwiched on the schedule by meetings with rival Pitt and the Big Ten opener out at Iowa.</p><p>&#8220;We had a fight at practice today,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;To be honest with you, I&#8217;m OK with that as long as it doesn&#8217;t get out of hand. Because it shows they care.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Raising the bar</strong></p><p>Franklin was asked by a fan during his radio show to grade his offense&#8217;s performance in Penn State&#8217;s 33-14 win over Pitt on Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;I would say this &#8212; after the last year-and-a-half, now we score 33 points and people are somewhat disappointed,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I guess that&#8217;s good in some ways.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Saquon Barkley&#8217;s role is growing this season with the addition of top kick returner to his resume. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_AP17257001986327.jpg</photo0><caption0>Saquon Barkley&#8217;s role is growing this season with the addition of top kick returner to his resume. </caption0><photoCredit0>Joe Hermitt | AP photo, PennLive.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>Georgia State at Penn State</p><p>7:30 p.m., Saturday, BTN</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penn State looking for a special teams boost from Saquon Barkley