The 10 biggest ‘what ifs’ for Penn State Football recruiting

2. What if Saquon Barkley Never Attended the 2013 White Out/Flipped?

If you ask any Penn State fan who the best Penn State football player of the last ten years is, the vast majority will say Saquon Barkley.

Barkley became one of the biggest names in college football during his three years in Happy Valley. He was an All-American, won numerous awards and broke a lot of records. He was drafted second overall by the New York Giants in the 2018 draft and is considered a Penn State legend.

Now imagine if Barkley did all this in a Rutgers uniform instead.

Rutgers gave Barkley his first offer at the beginning of his junior season, and it didn’t take long for Barkley to commit to the Scarlet Knights in September of 2013. A month later, Bill O’Brien and Penn State took notice of the running back from Whitehall, Pa and had him come up for the White Out game against Michigan. The Nittany Lions upset the Wolverines in one of the wildest games in Beaver Stadium history and Barkley was there in attendance for it. Less than a week later, Barkley received an offer from O’Brien.

While O’Brien leaving for the NFL complicated things a bit, Franklin was able to swoop in and finish the deal with Barkley rather quickly. Barkley officially flipped to Penn State on Feb. 19, 2014, and the rest is history.

Barkley has said in the past that attending the 2013 White Out and experiencing that atmosphere was a big reason why he flipped to the Nittany Lions. Franklin likely would have found a way to flip Barkley even if he didn’t attend that game, but could you imagine a world in which two different Penn State coaching staffs let Barkley leave the state and play for Rutgers?

Thankfully, Penn State fans don’t have to think about that hypothetical and can instead look back at all the unforgettable memories Barkley gave them, but it surely haunts Rutgers fans.