UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- If Kirk Herbstreit had to pick an NFL player to compare Saquon Barkley to he's not sure he could settle on just one.
After watching Barkley impress against Ohio State as a true freshman, a game in which Herbstreit called and Barkley rushed for 194 yards, the ESPN analyst left The Horseshoe that night wowed by what he saw from the guy on the opposite sideline of Ezekiel Elliott.
"That was the night I really saw how physical he could be, but I think this year you can really tell the work he put in this offseason to become a better receiver," Herbstreit said Friday in front of Old Main as members of the College GameDay crew met with the media. He settled on thinking of Barkley as his own guy, a little like Reggie Bush with how elusive he is in the open field, but with some of the power of Elliott and Todd Gurley.
"He's no longer just a traditional back where he's going to get the ball and take a handoff and go," Herbstreit said. "Gotta give Joe [Moorhead] a lot of credit for what they're doing now, trying to create a lot of 1-on-1 matchups to keep defenses honest."
There will be plenty of Barkley talk Saturday morning during ESPN's popular three hour pre-game show that originates from Penn State's Old Main Lawn leading up to the No. 2 Nittany Lions' White Out game against No. 19 Michigan. The campus is already bustling as football fans decked out in white walked across campus Friday afternoon, stopping to look at the College GameDay set and catching a glimpse of the show's Rece Davis, Desmond Howard and Herbstreit. Should Lee Corso put on a Nittany Lion mascot head Saturday around 11:55 a.m., the crowd will surely erupt.
While much of Saturday's broadcast will revolve around the resurgence of Penn State -- and this trip is GameDay's first to Happy Valley since 2009 and their first visit to Old Main -- there will be plenty of air time dedicated to Barkley and his Heisman chase. After all, these next three games are where Penn State's season will likely be made or broken and seeing how Barkley does with these marquee, ranked opponents will be his biggest test thus far.
"Saquon Barkley has been remarkable even with some -- I don't want to say questionable offensive line play -- but they haven't exactly blown gaping holes open for him, but they've been very creative in finding different ways to get him the ball," Davis said, adding that Barkley would be at the top of his Heisman ballot if voting ended today. "That's been very impressive. ... This is a really good, complete team, but let's not make any mistake: They're playing a three-week season that starts right now. They haven't really faced anybody, with all due respect to Iowa and I know Iowa gave them a great game and a very difficult environment, but they really haven't faced anybody who should have beaten them yet."
And should Penn State continue to add onto its 6-0 start to the season, Davis said if it's done in a dominant enough fashion then they could end up there at the top with the likes of Alabama. However, given the topsy-turvy nature of college football the jury is still out on the overall quality of this Penn State team, one that Howard, the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner, didn't sound too sold on in regards to the Lions' offensive line or the elite potential of this defense.
"The Penn State defense is good, I mean they've played well as a unit, but they don't make anyone like compared to an Alabama or a Clemson defense," Howard said. "They're a good, solid defense."
However, like the rest of the GameDay crew, Howard sounded pretty sold on Trace McSorley's leadership skills and Barkley's all-around talent.