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Saquon Barkley Named To Doak Walker Watch List

This is starting to get familiar. Sophomore Saquon Barkley kept Penn State’s watch list honors rolling Thursday with a preseason nod from the Doak Walker Award, which recognizes the nation’s premier running back.

Barkley, who set a school record for freshman rushing yards (1,076) to surpass all-time Nittany Lion great D.J. Dozier, while racking up eight total touchdowns, is already considered one of the most electric players in college football. The Coplay, Pa., native’s penchant for lethal spin moves and filthy cuts was impressive enough to also land him on the Maxwell Award watch list alongside junior wideout Chris Godwin.

Barkley joins a large contingency from the Big Ten, as Corey Clement (Wisconsin), LeShun Daniels, Jr. (Iowa), Markell Jones (Purdue), Terrell Newby (Nebraska), Devine Redding (Indiana), De’Veon Smith (Michigan), and Ke’Shawn Vaughn (Illinois) all made appearances on the list. Though Alabama’s Derrick Henry hoisted the trophy following the 2015 season, the other two finalists — LSU’s Leonard Fornette and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey — return for another run at the Doak.

When he’s not setting a program record in power cleans or sprinting his way to fastest player on the team honors, Barkley is surely visualizing Act II of an already-spectacular career. With Larry Johnson (2002) being the lone Nittany Lion to bring home the award since its inception in 1990, Barkley will hope to etch his name on some hardware this fall.

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About the Author

Ethan Kasales

Ethan’s a senior journalism major who grew up in Lemont, a few minutes from campus. When he’s not covering Penn State sports, you can usually find him golfing or teaching snowboarding at Tussey Mountain. Feel free to email him at [email protected].

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