CHICAGO -- Trying to pinpoint what makes Penn State running back Saquon Barkley one of the best in college football is no easy task.
"He's just shifty," Michigan State linebacker Chris Frey said Monday at Big Ten media days. "He's fast. He's really quick and he has that ridiculous hurdle that nobody can predict when it's coming and it makes it a lot harder to tackle him because you never know what he's going to do."
From the brute strength to the jaw-dropping jukes and hurdles, the Nittany Lions' junior is headed into a season that Penn State is optimistic can help propel it back to the top of college football. The rest of the NCAA has already taken note of the player who eclipsed 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons and is becoming the talk of next year's NFL Draft. Consider the Big Ten on high alert when it comes to the back who could be the conference's top player this season.
Slowing Barkley down might be another story.
"If you're playing with 12 (guys) you'd feel a lot better," Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. "It's just getting enough guys to him because he's going to make it so hard on the one guy who gets their first. It's tough."
Barkley has already garnered comparisons to Cowboys standout and former Buckeye Ezekiel Elliott, something Ohio State's Urban Meyer deemed "very fair." Elliott rushed for 1,631 yards last season as a rookie and is one of the most electrifying backs in the NFL.
"I think he's that quality of a back, that quality of a worker, from everything I hear and read," Meyer said. "So I think that's very fair."
The word "different" popped up time and time again as I made my way through Big Ten media days asking players and coaches what it is that makes Barkley difficult to bring down. Is it the juke, the speed, the power or something else? Since Barkley won't be in Chicago I figured who better to talk to then everyone else about him.
Here are my findings:
• "It's always like watching a highlight. ... Watching him the times I have I definitely want to do more hurdling." - Michigan State running back Gerald Holmes.
•"He's as good as there is out there in the country right now. He's a complete back and you have to game plan for him. You have to have a plan for how you're going to defend him." - Maryland coach D.J. Durkin
• "He's just a different breed." - Michigan State linebacker Chris Frey
•"He's a tough guy. He can move lateral. He can move forward. He's powerful. Overall, they've got a lot on that side with a quarterback and a running back that can do a lot of things so you know you never know what's coming at you." - Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell.
•"The Big Ten is full of competitors and he's just different." - Indiana linebacker Tegray Scales
•"He's kind of got all those things that make for those special types of backs." - Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst.
Okay, so consider what we already know to be true and that is Saquon Barkley is quite good at football. Got it.
So then, how does one go about trying to slow down the shifty freight train coming at them with a team-best 4.3-second 40-yard dash?
"Have your offense stay on the field a lot and keep him on the sideline," Durkin said with a laugh. He was somewhat serious though. "You've really got to make the most of your opportunities when you have the ball on offense because you know with the weapons they have on offense they've got a really good chance to score."
With the pick-your-poision type offense that is the Nittany Lions, complete with quarterback Trace McSorley slinging deep balls and extending plays with his legs opposing defense were taxed last season trying to keep up. What makes Barkley go is that there's also another weapon with him, something that sends defensive coordinators and head coaches back to the drawing board.
Take last year's Michigan State team as an example. In the first half the Spartans led 12-10 and were wrapping up Barkley in the backfield. The Lions' offense was slowed and Mark Dantonio's team kept the high-powered Penn State offense in check. Of course the tides changed with a 21-point third quarter for Penn State, breaking open the flood gates en route to a 45-12 victory.
So how was that defense successful, at least for half a game against Penn State, and could their be a blueprint there for teams this season?
"The biggest thing in that game was for our defensive line and our linebackers to make contacting the backfield, which I think we did a really good job of," Frey, a linebacker, said. "We pride ourselves as linebackers to read our keys and fill fast. We did that really well for the first half, actually I think we did that really well for the entire game and we were making contact and filling our gaps in the backfield which bottled him up and gave him nowhere to go. What killed us was the deep balls the entire game."
Right. When one factors in McSorley's play there's no doubt that too complicates the game plan.
"There's no question that Barkley is a great player, but that [quarterback] position is what to me in the one position that changes everything," Allen, Indiana's coach said. "That's why they're going to be a great football team this year because they got that guy back."
It's a risk-reward offense where the Lions cashed in way more than most last season with their lofty chunk plays, something that certainly won't catch teams by surprise this season. Then again, neither will Barkley.