17 September, 2017
Two possessions later, Penn State was facing third-and-12 from its own 15 when McSorley rolled right and threw back across his body to Barkley, who caught the ball in the left flat before turning on the afterburners. But even though the game script followed the predicted path, the individual performances by the two offensive leaders was notable.
Barkley looked like the best back in the country in Saturday night's 56-0 win over Georgia State, tallying 226 all-purpose yards and a magnificent 85-yard score.
Interceptions by Penn State's Grant Haley and Marcus Allen led to two more first-half touchdowns by the Lions, the first on a 29-yard run by Sanders, the second on McSorley's 8-yard keeper. Penn State DE Torrence Brown was carted off after suffering an apparent injury to his right knee on a low block by Georgia State RB Kyler Neal in the first quarter. "He's a 230-pound guy who can make you miss, run you over or burst up the sideline."I can't imagine there's a more explosive or unsafe player in open space than him."It was the longest scoring play for the Lions (3-0) in a home game in their 131 seasons of intercollegiate football and the longest gain of his career.The 5-11, 230-pound Barkley entertained the crowd of 102,746 and perhaps some Heisman Trophy voters watching on the Big Ten Network by gaining 226 all-purpose yards".
Then it happened. McSorley, slipped the pocket, looked downfield to his primary receiver, then to tight end Mike Gesicki.
The only person who could catch him was Polk, who pointed at his teammate as Barkley skated untouched into the end zone.
In the meantime, Barkley slid away from McSorley and saw the quarterback look away. But the two have developed a pretty strong connection the past two seasons, and McSorley knew he had Barkley in the open field.
"Trace did an unbelievable job using his eyes and coming down to the checkdown", Barkley said. "It was kind of weird". "But I always think there's room to improve". To have that added size and strength in the offseason just adds to the natural speed he has.
McSorley finished 18 of 23 for 309 yards. At that point, the quarterback just watched the Beaver Stadium big screen.
"Then, he does what he does when he's in the open field", McSorley said.
First was the stutter-step around the 40-yard line, something that comes so naturally to Barkley. Then, he runs past him.
"I can't imagine that there's a more explosive, unsafe player in space than him", Penn State coach James Franklin said.
Understandable when the Blue & White have both a quarterback, Trace McSorley, and a running back, Saquon Barkley, who are contenders to bring home the Heisman Trophy.
