Match-up to Watch: Indiana's Tegray Scales Against Penn State's Saquon Barkley

Tegray Scales is IU's leader on defense and will be tasked with slowing down PSU RB Saquon Barley image: Sammy Jacobs HoosierHuddle.com

Written By Alex Compton (@Alexncompton)

IU was finally back on the field last Saturday, and looked the part of a postseason team by nearly all accounts. Except for the injuries it was nearly a perfect game from the Hoosiers, as they were leading 31-0 before the Eagles of Georgia Southern scored a single point. They ran over half of their plays in “garbage time” which shows just how much Tom Allen’s squad dominated on Saturday, and hopefully they have some positive momentum to carry into a certainly daunting task in Happy Valley this weekend. Penn State is currently projected as a College Football Playoff team by most media outlets, and many of those same outlets have their best player as the Heisman favorite after his monster game against Iowa. As all great matchups should be, this one involves the stars of their respective teams, Scales and Barkley. 

TEGRAY SCALES VS. SAQUON BARKLEY

I watched the Penn State - Iowa game this past weekend, and oh boy was that a great decision. After a long first half that was somewhat disappointing, the teams ramped up their play in the second half to make for some incredible college football. Penn State fell behind in the final minutes of the game, but Trace McSorely was able to lead them down the field and score on the last play of the game to escape Iowa City with a 21-19 win. McSorely was the hero on the final drive, but Penn State would have been nowhere if it weren’t for the talent of #26 in that backfield. Barkley finished the game with 28 carries for 211 yards and a score while adding 12 catches for 94 yards. Josey Jewell is one of the nation’s best linebackers, and he was pretty much isolated on Barkley the entire night. To counter this, Penn State used the obvious speed advantage that Barkley holds on him to put him in space and force missed tackles. Once Barkley got outside the tackle box, it was nearly impossible for Jewell or anyone else to tackle him one on one, which led to some huge gains. 

I am predicting that much of the same will happen this weekend when Scales and co. head up to State College for their crack at the Nittany Lions. James Franklin understands just how dang good Scales is, but he also understands how he can use Barkley’s insane array of abilities to give his team the upper hand. Scales will be forced to cover him in the flat a lot, and may even just shadow him one on one in certain instances. The key for IU will be pursuit, as it is Scales’ job to slow him down, and the responsibility of the other 10 guys to take him down. Last year in Bloomington, Indiana stopped Barkley in his tracks in a game that should have been won by IU. They had the same gameplan down, where Scales slowed Barkley down and the other guys finished him off, so maybe they can build off of that success and experience more of it this time around. For reference, this season’s Heisman favorite was held to just 58 yards on 33 carries by IU last year. No other team has stopped Barkley like that, and I’m not saying it will happen again, but the blueprint is there. Tegray Scales will have his hands full on Saturday, but if there is anyone that can keep 26 in check, it will be #8 in white.  

Other Notes On This Matchup:

Barkley’s stats through 4 games (courtesy of ESPN.com)

Scales’ stats through 3 games (courtesy of ESPN.com)