It’s easy to remember Saquon Barkley for the highlights that have defined his rise. The hurdles.
The breakaway runs. The big-stage moments at the Linc.
What’s harder to remember is that his Penn State career opened with a flat, frustrating night against Temple - and a lesson that stuck with him for years.
On Thursday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, Barkley was asked to look back on that first college game, and the Eagles running back took a moment before answering.
“Man,” Barkley told PennLive. “You’re taking me back.”
He was talking about Sept. 5, 2015, when Penn State opened the season with a 27-10 loss to Temple. It was a shocker for James Franklin’s team and the first time Temple beat Penn State since 1941. While most people remember Christian Hackenberg being sacked 10 times, Barkley’s debut barely registered.
He had one carry for one yard.
That was the whole line. One carry for one yard.
“I missed a pass pickup,” Barkley recalled, “and they didn’t play me the rest of the game.”
Barkley was a true freshman then, an 18-year-old out of Whitehall High School trying to carve out a role behind starter Akeel Lynch. He was one of several freshmen fighting for snaps, and his first shot at Temple didn’t go the way he imagined.
He played 10 total snaps. His lone run came early in the second half, and the bigger moment came later, with about five minutes left in the third quarter.
On third-and-10 in a tied game, Barkley blew his assignment in pass protection. He stepped up to help left tackle Paris Palmer, which left Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich free on a delayed blitz.
Hackenberg got drilled.
ESPN’s cameras caught Hackenberg on the sideline, animated and pointing toward running backs coach Charles Huff, suggesting Barkley should have stayed in to block Matakevich.
After that, Barkley didn’t return. Penn State lost, and when he got out of the locker room, he found his father, Alibay, and unloaded.
“I felt like it was stupid to go out there and get one carry,” Barkley said.
The response was blunt.
“Shut up. Stop complaining.
If you want more, go make a play. When you’re on the field, make sure they don’t have a reason to take you off.”
Barkley said that message changed the way he approached what came next.
“If you want change, you’ve got to do something to make change,” Barkley said. “That was the motivation I had going into the next game.
I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity I had before. The next time I have an opportunity, I’m going to make the best of it.”
He did exactly that a week later against Buffalo in Penn State’s home opener. Barkley didn’t touch the ball until the second half, but once he got rolling, he announced himself in a hurry: 115 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
The play everybody remembers came after a 33-yard run, when Barkley launched over a Buffalo defender for his first hurdle as a Nittany Lion. Beaver Stadium erupted.
Later, Barkley said Penn State’s backup running backs told him about Franklin’s reaction on the sideline.
“Coach Franklin looked at Coach Huff and said, ‘That’s your f****** running back,’” Barkley said while laughing. “They always tell that story.”
That moment helped define the rest of his Penn State run. The next week, he ripped Rutgers for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
By the end of his freshman season, he was on his way. In 2016 and 2017, he was an All-American and the Big Ten MVP.
Now 29 and entering his third year with the Eagles, Barkley is preparing to start his ninth NFL season when Philadelphia opens against the Commanders on Sunday. But with Penn State facing Temple again on Saturday, the memory of that first game in South Philadelphia won’t be far away.
For Barkley, the Temple loss wasn’t just a bad debut. It was the obstacle that helped push him forward.
“For me, in my own little world, that (Temple) game, that was a barrier I had to leap over,” Barkley said. “It’s funny how involved a hurdle is in my life.
But it instilled that confidence in me. And here we are now.”
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