UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- During fall camp the Nittany Lions worked on having Saquon Barkley take direct snaps, knowing that at some point this season, they'd have a place for it in the offense.
It just so happened that place was Saturday night during No. 2 Penn State's biggest challenge of the season to date. The byproduct of some bye-week self-scouting and one of the best players in all of college football resulted in a successful night for Barkley and the Lions' ground game.
"I just go with it," the Heisman Trophy candidate said Saturday night after Penn State dropped No. 19 Michigan. "They watch film just like we watch film when they're up there and if they see something that they feel is going to work then I just try to execute it and work on it, work on the snap timing. We really didn't have that many struggles with it during the week in practice. We're real kind of fluid with it."
James Franklin said Penn State would have different ways to get the ball in Barkley's hands after the bye week, and with an X-factor like him, even Michigan's defense couldn't keep pace as Barkley went in motion, took direct snaps and caught three passes for 53 yards.
"Lining up in empty and staying in empty, we haven’t really shown that and that was a big self-study deal," Franklin said. "Being able to disguise which side Saquon was on with the motion across and then the motion across and back. The wildcat was mainly just because I know how much everyone loves the wildcat. ... Where we did a great job is, we didn’t show it. So, instead of lining up and putting the quarterback out wide, we’re able to shift to it at the last minute so they can’t go to a wildcat check. We had some wrinkles in there."
They most certainly did as Barkley took the second play from scrimmage via a direct snap straight to the end zone.
"The motion thing on that first touchdown I think that really caught them off guard," Trace McSorley said. "I don't think they necessarily knew how to react to it and it was a huge gain. ... It's a good package for us."
It's no secret Barkley is a nightmare for every opposing defense. Count Jim Harbaugh's group among those pulverized by the human highlight reel.
"They hit all cylinders," Harbaugh said. "The back is really good, as advertised. The quarterback played extremely well. They were hitting on all cylinders, their quarterback was hot and the receivers made plays downfield. It was impressive."
Even Barkley's teammates who get a taste of his elusive moves regularly in practice know that when he -- like any playmaker -- is in space, good luck trying to corral him. Seeing the Lions go back to the direct snaps they repped in camp for whenever they'd need to use it this year gave the Penn State defense reassurance that their loaded offense was going to continue to scheme to get the ball in their top player's hands.
"That offense is just ridiculous," middle linebacker Jason Cabinda said. "Joe Moorhead is a genius. What he does day in and day out and puts them in a position to make plays and make our team better. He's the best out there. He really is. It's huge. But it's not only that, it's having so much confidence in your offense knowing when we get the ball back for them that they're going to go down and score. That confidence is huge."
What else could be huge? The amount of other wrinkles involving Barkley that we still haven't seen. Franklin said there's more where this came from. Franklin said Moorhead had another play that he wanted to call during the game but Franklin said he preferred that Moorhead didn't run it, perhaps stashing that one away for some other time.
"All the stuff you've seen tonight, we’ve run before," Franklin said of the team's practice routine. "Now you can kind of go back to the guys and say, 'Okay, we're going to focus on this this week because of the matchups or the leverage or the angles creating space or green grass or whatever it may be.' We’re able to do that. Once again, because we have a mature football team, and they can recall on previous experience. ... I think there also are some things that Brent [Pry] and Charles [Huff] and Joe try to save for the second half of the season so that you can kind of have a little bit more variety in your game plan when you need it."
They'll certainly need as much variety as possible next weekend at The Horseshoe as they ready for No. 6 Ohio State.
But hey, having someone back there who attracts so much attention from opposing defenses that you have to find new wrinkles for him means there's an awful lot going right in the first place.
SECOND DOWN
Trace is back on track.
The basis for gauging success for a quarterback has been mentioned time and time again this season by Franklin and Moorhead and involves criteria like this:
• Completing 65 percent or more of passes
• Eliminating turnovers
• Getting sacked fewer times than the number of sacks your defense creates
• Winning the explosive play battle
• Sound decision making
• Winning football games
Trace McSorley completed 17-of-26 passes (65 percent) for 282 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 11 times for 76 yards and scored three times on the ground. His first half was shaky at times as he was picked off once and nearly tagged for another.
McSorley went right over to Moorhead on the sideline after the interception to discuss what went wrong.
"I just gotta hold it for another second," McSorley said. "The other guy was coming in behind him and I just gotta try to not force it. That was on me. ... Know what happened, move on, next play."
That was McKeesport's Khaleke Hudson who nearly picked him off in the end zone, but after that McSorley was steady and explosive.
The Lions put together a key drive late in the first half up 14-13 and capped it with McSorley's three-yard touchdown run. The seven play, 75-yard drive gave the Lions momentum headed into the half and how'd McSorley do during that drive that spanned just 52 seconds?
He hit Juwan Johnson for a 12-yard gain, connected with DaeSean Hamilton for 36 yards, found Mike Gesicki for a 17-yard completion and then he ran it in himself from three yards out. Pretty explosive, certainly productive.
The Lions' success against man coverage allowed them to rip off some of the deeper shot plays that had been missing through most of the first six games. Moorhead said a few weeks ago it was only a matter of time until the ground game would help open things up and the Lions would be able to strike in the right situation.
"[Even] with the interception he played a really good game," Franklin said. "He ran the ball well, he threw the ball well. When you play that style of defense and they’ve had success against everybody, you have to be able and willing to hit the go balls, the fade balls, the inside fade by number two and typically, people can’t hit them enough to make them pay for playing that style of defense. Tonight, we were able to do that."
Doing that against a Michigan defense that entered the game No. 1 in the country in total defense speaks volumes about McSorley perhaps getting his groove back. With those deep shot plays panning out, the offense was able to thrive for 506 total yards.
THIRD DOWN
Confidence is key.
It's what propelled Penn State to a Big Ten title last year and having that confidence or that belief that the offense is going to score every time it has the ball -- and also that the defense can bail the offense out in a bind and that the special teams have legit returners who can bust one free -- is something this group continues putting together.
That was apparent Saturday night.
"It kind of shows us the level that we can play at and it's more so proving to ourselves that we can play at this level and that should be our standard every single week," McSorley said of the offense's performance.
It was a measuring stick of sorts for Brent Pry's defense, too, one that came away with seven sacks and stymied the Wolverines' ground game.
"I think it was more of a reassuring game for us," defensive end Ryan Buchholz said.
But how and why was this defense able to be successful? It starts with their depth and their productivity up front, but Franklin tossed around the same word that many of his players have used at various points this season: Confidence.
It's what DeAndre Thompkins has in the punt return unit knowing that they're going to keep him clean so he can try to break free. It's also what the return unit has in Thompkins, seeing him bust the Lions' punt return slump this season, much like what the kick return game found in Barkley the first half of the season.
"We’ve got really good depth up front with our defensive line, young guys that are developing and old guys that are just gaining more and more confidence," Franklin said of the defense. "That’s the thing."
Another phrase that's been used by the Lions' running back and quarterback this season is that "a confident team is a scary team."
Yep, the rest of the College Football Playoff world is likely waking up to the realization that this team is gaining confidence after this outing and now it faces another big-time test next week.
FOURTH DOWN
Hello, Heisman race.
Barkley proved more than his worth in non-conference play as he padded his stats and made some defenders look clueless as they tried to tackle him. Then came the national audience coming-out party for the season in dramatic fashion on the road against Iowa, where his name really picked up steam in the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Next was the setback against Northwestern where fans wondered if the offensive line would limit Barkley's productivity, yet the junior still went to bat for his developing offensive line, adding that he thought they were doing a good job.
But, posting 176 all-purpose yards against the top-ranked defense certainly bolsters his case to at least punch his ticket for the list of Heisman finalists. Barkley started to make a name for himself on his last trip to the Horseshoe. During his freshman season, he rushed for 194 yards on a tender ankle. He's checked box after box, week after week, and when he bobbled a ball yet still had enough concentration to haul it in for the touchdown, he wowed his teammates once again.
Whether he's carrying the ball, catching it, throwing a touchdown, returning a kick for a touchdown or taking a direct snap for a touchdown he's put himself in a favorable position with seven games under his belt.
Team success is part of the award, but so too is what a player does against elite competition. So the guy who has now rushed for 3,000 yards and has 1,000 receiving yards during his collegiate career likely should keep the second Saturday in December open for a trip to New York City.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
Franklin's complete post-game remarks shot by Waiss David Aramesh:
QUICK HITS
• The attendance of 110,823 was the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history, surpassing the record of 110,753 vs Nebraska that was set on Sept. 14, 2002.
• Safety Ayron Monroe, a key special teams contributor, didn't suit up for this game.
• Mike Gesicki produced one of the highlights of the night for a celebration in which the 6-foot-6 tight end actually ended up leaping over McSorley's head. The former basketball standout nearly took his quarterback's head off in the process, so what in the world was with the big leap?
"I was trying to chest bump him, but he didn't look at me, so I ended up just going right on top of him," Gesicki said.
Gesicki recalled a celebration against Indiana a few years back where he got so excited that Christian Hackenberg ended up leaping and then falling down.
"I get pretty excited," he said.
• Will Fries started at right tackle and the rotation there wasn't like it's been. Chasz Wright was still part of the extra point unit, but the redshirt freshman held his own against a big-time defensive line. Franklin said last week that both guys would play and he was technically correct, but it looks like Fries has the upper hand, at least for the time being.
• Reserve quarterback Jake Zembiec had his right arm in a sling during the game. Zembiec has been a limited participant at practices this season where he's a redshirt freshman on scholarship, but freshman Sean Clifford won the No. 3 job behind Tommy Stevens in camp.