Penn State Football: Minus Saquon Barkley, run game improved in 2018

2018 turned out to be a good season on the ground for Penn State football

Penn State football lost a big part of its offense heading into the 2018 season, but the effect wasn’t exactly as most would have thought. Saquon Barkley, one of the best running backs in school history, left Happy Valley after his junior year in 2017 and was chosen with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. His departure left a big question mark, but backup running back Miles Sanders was ready to step up to the plate.

After losing Barkley, it would not have been unreasonable at the start of the year to think the run game would suffer. However, interestingly enough, the Nittany Lions actually improved their rushing numbers in 2018.

In 2017, Penn State racked up 2,212 rushing yards as a team. This year, that number improved to 2,503. Despite losing a tent such as Barkley, the Nittany Lions didn’t miss a beat on the ground.

Sanders, in his first season as the starter, played a key role in leading the Penn State run game. He ran the ball 207 times for 1,223 yards and nine touchdowns. Those numbers lined up almost exactly with what Barkley produced in his final season with the Nittany Lions (217 carries for 1,271 yards).

While Sanders did a fantastic job as the lead back, quarterback Trace McSorley also deserves a lot of credit for the success of the run game. The senior used his legs as a dangerous weapon on a series of both designed runs and times when the pocket broke down.

McSorley carried 151 times for 723 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns.

True freshman running back Ricky Slade contributed 230 yards and six touchdowns, while backup quarterback Tommy Stevens went for 118 yards and two scores. Mark Allen, Johnathan Thomas, Journey Brown and KJ Hamler, and Justin Shorter were the other Nittany Lions who contributed to the rushing attack in 2018.

On the surface, the Penn State offense did not seem as potent in 2018 compared to what it was in 2017. However, despite losing one of the best running backs in the game, the Nittany Lions found surprising success on the ground as a team.