Penn State Football: 2017 Position Grades vs Maryland
Running Backs
In what might’ve been his final regular season game of his illustrious career, Saquon Barkley gave Penn State football a nice performance. He didn’t reach 100 yards, but he did showcase a more every down portion of his game.
Barkley didn’t bust a big run loose. Instead, he picked up consistent four and five yard gains. In all, he rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Mini Barkley, Miles Sanders, calmed a lot of fans down with his seven carry, 42-yard game. Sanders ran over a few defenders and just looked comfortable as a feature back.
Those two strong performances with Mark Allen’s 20 yards on four carries completed a quality night for the running backs. At times the O-Line didn’t pave a perfect path, but the running backs still found room to run.
Barkley finished the year with 1,134 yards and 16 touchdowns, while adding 47 catches, 594 yards and three touchdowns. There are running backs with better numbers than him across the country. However, he makes a bigger difference on his team than any other back.