79 Yards Later – Saquon Barkley

Read an excellent piece about Saquon Barkley

This turkey has placed Hallie Grossman’s story in the September 4 College Football Preview edition of ESPN The Magazine, entitled “79 Yards Later” on the mandatory reading list for feelgood preparation for the 2017 season and for Saquon Barkley fans anytime.

Grossman captures Barkley’s unselfish and deferential personality, while painting him as a fierce competitor who continually strives to improve his game in an anything but quixotic quest to transform it from his A-game to his A+ game. She establishes his 79-yard touchdown run in this year’s Rose Bowl as a line of demarcation between Sasquatch Who? and Saquon Barkley, the guy on everyone’s Heisman list, while tacitly posing the musical question, Will Success Spoil Saquon Barkley?

“After he hands off, his coaches ask him to carry his fake a full 5 yards beyond the line, but sometimes McSorley can’t help but stop and stare as Barkley runs.”

Yeah, that Rose Bowl run before a huge, focused national college football audience was a masterpiece with the ultimate deleterious side-effect of establishing Barkley as king of the running back hill, inspiring a veritable shitload of defenders to want to make names for themselves by knocking him off. Saquon seems like just the unassuming kid who can handle that sort of pressure cooker. (Well, maybe not if it’s actually on the stove, but you know what I mean.) Will Adoree’ Jackson get another shot at him? Who gonna stop this freight train?

“Two games into his collegiate career, Barkley soared over a Buffalo defender, his feet pedaling the Beaver Stadium air. He stuck his landing, then rumbled for 10 more yards. [Akeel] Lynch, the Nittany Lions’ rushing leader at the time, knew what Barkley’s gymnastics meant. ‘Ah, damn,’ he thought. ‘It’s time for me to transfer.’ (He did, to Nevada.)”

Read this featured story about one very egoless potential superstar, Saquon Barkley.