Scouting Saquon Barkley vs. Iowa: He’s better than Zeke Elliott

Should Penn State leave Iowa City unscathed, it still must survive MI and at Ohio State on October 21 and 28.

There were 358 reasons on Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium, as he and his Penn State brethren got a last-second 21-19 win against Iowa.

He demonstrated that when he went up and over cornerback Josh Jackson and followed that leap by escaping from a hit delivered by Amani Hooker before being chased out of bounds on a play in the fourth quarter.

Akrum Wadley put Iowa in great position to pull off the upset when he capped that drive with a 35-yard run. Barkley took a screen pass and went 85 yards for a score last week. The rest of the group was OK, but someone is going to have to be more consistent.

On the game-winning pass from quarterback Trace McSorley to receiver Juwan Johnson, Barkley stayed in as a blocker – and had to pick up a hard-charging Jewell, who was blitzing up the middle. McSorley led the country in yards per completion past year at 16.13.

The 2017 version of the Hawkeyes looks much like Kirk Ferentz’ teams of the past, they play the run very tough on defense and have held opponents to 19.3 points per game. Iowa (3-0) leads the series 9-8 since Penn State joined the Big Ten, which included a win in 2008 that dashed the national title hopes of the Nittany Lions. McSorley connected with Saeed Blacknall on a quick slant to the left for 6 yards and a first down. Davis missed just two of his 24 tries last season and set the school record with 18 in a row, going back to the previous year.

Penn State (4-0) ate up a lot of clock and drove to the Iowa 13 on its next possession, but Tyler Davis’ 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

McSorley atoned for costly errors at the end of the second and third periods.

That quick first step and exceptional athleticism separates Barkley from his peers. There’s a right tackle problem, one exposed by athletic, mobile D-ends like Iowa’s Anthony Nelson, who appeared to have twice as many as his listed five tackles and one sack. Josey Jewell recovered. The Hawkeyes moved into field-goal territory where the offense stalled.

The first half was a particular slog.

nHonoring teammate: Penn State sophomore Shareef Miller changed his uniform number from 48 to 19 to honor fellow defensive end Torrence Brown, a junior who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against Georgia State.

One could find things to complain about the Hawkeyes.

How do you survive the Kinnick Stadium night game curse? Until the drama of the final few minutes, he stole the show, even if Penn State’s miscues – including an interception late in the second quarter that set up an Iowa touchdown – and struggles in the red zone kept the game close for the duration.

Penn State’s Saquan Barkley looked the part of a Heisman Trophy candidate as he rushed for 211 yards and caught 12 passes for another 94 yards against a pretty good defense.

According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Penn State is the favorite on the road in this game, as the Nittany Lions are getting odds of -11 points against the Hawkeyes.

Only Vanderbilt has stingier than Penn State’s defense, which has allowed just 4.7 points a game. It is worth noting that the team did have two timeouts left.

In terms of giving up points, Penn State’s defense has gone from literally worst to nearly first.

McSorley was 14 of 25 for 122 yards and one interception in the first half.

If you thought Penn State used up all of its magic last season, think again.