UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The highlight reel who finds a new way to impress every week is indeed human after all. Well, at least at times.
Saquon Barkley wasn't going to drop two passes in one game and while the Lions held onto a 28-13 lead against Michigan early in the 4th quarter, the Heisman Trophy candidate wasn't going to let Trace McSorley's deep ball slip through his hands and off his chest.
"We saw a mismatch that we thought we'd be able to take advantage of and I was able to win and beat the guy with speed," Barkley said. "Trace gave me a great ball, but I gotta start looking the ball in, being a little bit lazy at the end of the catch, kind of hit my fingertips and I thought I looked it in, but it bounced off me and I was able to continue to run through it and catch the ball and get in the end zone."
The back continued swinging his arms wildly after breaking the plane a move that's more spontaneous than choreographed, something Barkley did earlier this season as well when he was laughing in the end zone with teammate Brandon Polk. It's the byproduct of just having fun with his brothers, he said.
"You think you've seen it all and then he does something that it's just like, 'Oh. OK," McSorley said.
And his brothers certainly had a little fun with him as they tried to put into words how Barkley managed to hang onto the ball which ended up being the nail in the coffin for Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines.
“You know, it’s funny because Saquon is Saquon and you think everything is perfect with him and seeing him bobble it you’re like, ‘He’s going to catch it anyway.’ And of course he caught it," offensive lineman Brendan Mahon said.
"That kid is special. He’s amazing," Mahon continued. "I can’t thank him enough for the amount of work and the things he does for this team. He’s a Heisman candidate and you would never know. He’s the most humble guy and how he treats everyone from people who clean up the building to everyone around town he’s just a really amazing kid and even better off the field than he is on the field and that’s saying something especially because he’s one of the best.”
Barkley's ability to hit the home run every time he touches the ball is why the Lions continue to unveil new wrinkles in the never-ending chess match between No. 26 and opposing defensive coordinators. It's also why Barkley's decision to take a kick return out of the end zone in the second quarter, which ended up not working in the Lions' favor as they started the drive at the 15, could be graded as a bad decision, but also becomes understandable given that he's the most dynamic player on the field.
"It was a freak move. He does freakish things every Saturday so I'm not surprised that happened," Penn State cornerback Christian Campbell said of the touchdown catch. "He makes great plays like that so it's nothing new about Saquon. ... Just a freakish play."
The bobble to himself, much like the touchdown pass he threw a few weeks back, is another quirky play on his highlight reel that shows even when he's not perfect he's still the guy who will make the decisive play in a game.
"Saquon is Saquon," linebacker Jason Cabinda said. "I don't have words for what he's able to do."
Add that reception to a game where Barkley had 15 carries for 108 yards, including a 69-yard score on the team's second play from scrimmage, and it's another big-time showing in a primetime game.
"When it happened my heart stopped," defensive end Ryan Buchholz said of the catch. "I was like 'Ahh, we have to keep scoring to make this an even better game.' Then he caught it and I thought I was going to have a heart attack like like. It was phenomenal. I've never seen something like that. I was just happy he has that kind of coordination that he can catch it again. That's pretty hard."