Oct. 23, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior running back Saquon Barkley (Coplay, Pa.) and senior linebacker Jason Cabinda (Flemington, N.J.) claimed Big Ten Player of the Week honors for their performances against No. 19 Michigan. Barkley, the Offensive Player of the Week, wins his fourth Big Ten weekly award of the season (7 weeks), while Cabinda claims his first career Defensive Player of the Week.
The offensive honor is the third of the season for Barkley, who also has a Special Teams Player of the Week award to his credit this season. He has earned eight conference honors (five offensive, two freshman, one special teams) in his career.
Barkley also earned a spot on the Paul Hornung Award weekly honor roll for the fourth time this season. The Paul Hornung Award is presented to the most versatile player in major college football.
Barkley accumulated 176 all-purpose yards via 108 rushing yards, 53 receiving yards and 15 return yards against the Wolverines. He found the end zone three times, twice on the ground and once in the air, to become Penn State's career touchdowns from scrimmage leader with 42 career scores, surpassing the record set by Lydell Mitchell (41; 1969-71). Barkley has scored a touchdown in 14-straight games, the longest active streak in FBS. He also posted his 12th career multi-touchdown game and his fourth of the season. Barkley recorded his 13th career 100-yard game with 108 rushing yards. He is tied for eighth in Penn State history for 100-yard games.
With 53 receiving yards against the Wolverines, Barkley became the 26th Nittany Lion with 1,000 career receiving yards. He is the first Penn State player with 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in his career and the fourth Big Ten player to have 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in his career, joining Indiana's Levron Williams (3,095 rush, 1,088 rec; 1998-2001), Northwestern's Tyrell Sutton (3,886 rush, 1,244 rec; 2005-08) and Purdue's Mike Alstott (3,635 rush, 1,075 rec; 1992-95). However, Barkley is the first to accomplish the feat in three years.
Cabinda recorded 13 tackles, including a pair of half-sacks and one tackle for loss, against Michigan. He also forced his second career fumble in the third quarters on a John O'Korn scramble. The 13 tackles were one off of Cabinda's career mark of 14, which he has accomplished twice. The effort was his eighth career double-digit tackle performance.
The second-ranked Nittany Lions travel to No. 6 Ohio State Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on FOX. The game can also be heard on GoPSUsports.com and the Penn State Sports Network.
Single-game tickets for the 2017 Penn State football season presented by PSECU are available for the two remaining home games (Rutgers, Nebraska). For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing new 2018 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m-4:30 p.m. More than 9,000 new season tickets have been sold and the season ticket allotment for 2017 has been exhausted.