Former Penn State star Saquon Barkley races into record books with stunning single-game performance
Former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley dazzled frequently in his time as a Nittany Lion. Suffering through six mostly stagnant seasons with the New York Giants, that light shone less brightly.
Sunday night, amidst a resurgent season in which he’s recaptured the attention of the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, Barkley was back in full.
In a 37-20 win for the Eagles over the Los Angeles Rams, Barkley produced the highlight game of his career, marching into the NFL and franchise record books in the process. A dual-threat, Barkley took 26 carries for 255 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. And through the air, he added four receptions for 47 yards with a long catch of 31 yards.
The numbers represent the ninth-highest rushing total in a single game in NFL history and the most ever for the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL record for a single game rushing total is 296 yards for Minnesota Vikings in a November 2007 game against the San Diego Chargers.
Saquon Barkley shines on Sunday night
The performance started off well-enough for the former Nittany Lion star. Repeatedly helping to propel the Eagles offense on the ground, his side took a 13-7 lead to the locker room.
In the second half, though, Barkley broke through in the biggest way. Out of the gates, he took his first carry of the third quarter to the house with a 70-yard touchdown run.
Dancing through the heart of the Rams’ defense, Barkley broke to the sideline where he raced the rest of the way into the end zone. The play gave the Eagles a 20-7 advantage and set the tone for what would become a dominating performance, all while immediately doubling his rushing output of the first half.
“On the first play of the second half, he makes a cut I don’t think anyone else could make,” said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. “He made this cut that, man, he put his left foot in the ground, he went around the edge, and he just hit the gas.
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“When you have the type of quickness, lateral movement that Saquon has, with the ability to accelerate and the speed to finish, and the power to break through a tackle, he has everything you look for in a back. He’s been awesome and he was awesome tonight.”
Continuing on that trajectory, Barkley did one-better on his previous best. Already owning a 30-14 advantage, a third-and-6 carry late in the fourth quarter closed all windows for a potential Rams comeback. This time taking a Jalen Hurts handoff to his left, Barkley again made one cut, sliced through the Los Angeles defense, and found no one awaiting him through the second and third levels. Dashing the rest of the way into the end zone, the carry was his final touch of the night in what would end up being a 37-20 win for the Eagles.
Former Penn State star set for career year
Since being picked up in free agency in the offseason, Barkley has put together the best numbers of his career. With another six games to play, Barkley’s 1,392 yards surpass his rookie season in 2018, as well as his 1,312 yards on the ground on 295 carries in 2022. Now up to 10 rushing touchdowns, he’s also only one shy of the 11 he had as a rookie.
“Saquon is a special player,” said Sirianni. “The offensive line played special against a very good defensive line. We were able to hit a couple of home runs. Saquon has that ability to hit home runs.”
In his three seasons at Penn State, Barkley finished as the program record-holder for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns with 43 and 53, respectively.
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