UNIVERSITY PARK — For the second straight season, Saquon Barkley has been voted the Big Ten’s top player.
The Penn State standout running back was awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, becoming the fifth player since 1924 to claim the honor twice. Barkley joins Minnesota’s Paul Giel (1952-53), Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1973-74), Indiana’s Anthony Thompson (1988-89) and Ohio State’s Braxton Miller (2012-13).
The 5-11, 230-pound junior is also the first Penn State player ever to win the Paul Hornung Award, which is given to the most versatile player in college football. He is a finalist for the Maxwell Award, the Doak Walker Award, and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.
Barkley ranks second in the FBS and leads the Big Ten in all-purpose yards (179.5 per game), is fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten in touchdowns (21). He rushed fro 2,154 yards this season, joining Larry Johnson as the second player in school history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. His 358 rushing yards against Iowa were a single-game record at Penn State.
The ninth-ranked Nittany Lions win face No. 11 Washington in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl Saturday, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. (ET) in Glendale, Arizona.
