The hole opened as if the football gods had sent an invitation.

Saquon Barkley, then a Penn State freshman running back in his second game, knew exactly what to do. The play, simply called power, involved the guards pulling left and right with the result being a gap so clearly defined it was like a boulder split a roaring river.

Barkley plunged through, his 5-foot-11, 223-pound frame churning until two Buffalo defenders collapsed in the middle to halt his progress. But Barkley would not be slowed. Instead his body tensed, and he hurdled two defenders to the awe of the 93,065 Nittany Lion fans in attendance.

The crowd erupted as Barkley scampered for 17 yards before bad footing caused him to slip at the 12-yard-line.

It seemed Penn State’s next offensive hope, an in-state prospect with electric feet, had arrived.

Except all Barkley could think about was an opportunity missed.

“Everyone was really excited about the hurdle, but I just couldn’t get it out of my mind that I messed up my opportunity to score my first touchdown,” Barkely told 247Sports in a phone interview.

Barkley scored his first touchdown a few minutes later, but the “what I could have done better” thought is reflective of the mindset that has Barkley potentially poised to join an elite class of running backs in college football.

Even following a year in which Barkley rushed for 1,076 yards and 7 touchdowns, both Penn State freshman records, in just 11 games, he isn’t content. Like the moment after his first big run, Barkley can’t help but list what he could do better entering his sophomore season: run block, pass block, develop as a leader, be a better teammate, hold onto the ball more tightly, take what the defense gives him, ect …

A year ago, Ohio State star running back Ezekiel Elliott called Barkley the “truth” as Barkley became one of just two true freshmen in the FBS to eclipse 1,000 yards. Now, Barkley is poised to take over Elliott’s role as the top back in the Big Ten.

Though, Barkley said his focus is directed toward helping Penn State improve following a 7-6 season and aiding the instillation of a new spread offense.

Even with humility oozing out of every spoken sentence, Barkley admits being the best – AKA chasing the names Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook – provides a well of motivation.

“You see what they’re doing and you see their success, and it’s kind of a jealousy thing,” Barkley said. “It’s like a thing you say, ‘I want to be on that level.’ You never settle.”

23 Names

Success quickly found Barkley on the football field.

Barkley recalls running for a touchdown with his first touch in little league, and he described his football mentality growing up as, “Score, score, score. Score, score, score.”

But despite solid high school numbers and a projectable frame, Barkley found himself overlooked on the recruiting trail early in his career. Barkley did not attend a lot of showcases, and, at least in the beginning, it hurt him in the recruiting rankings.

Yet when James Franklin’s staff arrived at State College in 2014, it immediately made Barkley a priority.

“In our eyes, he was the best running back in the state at the time,” said Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff. “He just fit who we were. … The game wasn’t too big for him.”

A little over a month after Penn State made Franklin’s hire official, Barkley flipped from Rutgers to the Nittany Lions.

After Barkley earned an exclusive invite to The Opening and received overtures from schools such as Notre Dame and Michigan, his stock elevated nationally. 247Sports ranked Barkley as the No. 6 running back overall and the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania.

Saquon Barkley competes at the Opening in 2014.

ESPN slotted 23 running backs higher than Barkley in the 2015 class, and the 247Sports Composite rankings generated Barkley at No. 14 among running backs.

Humility might be one of Barkley’s defining characteristics, but the trait doesn’t get in the way of motivation.

That’s a big reason why Barkley can list every name ESPN ranked ahead of him.

“He’s very humble, but he doesn’t slight himself,” Huff said. “He knows all 23 guys ranked ahead of him. It’s not a thing where he doesn’t carry a chip. He carries it.”

Barkley still remembers the names and said he “wanted to prove those guys wrong.” Mission accomplished as a freshman as only three of the 23 names reached even half the total rushing yards Barkley accrued. Actually only USC’s Ronald Jones (987 yards) came within 350 yards of Barkley.

“I just wanted to show them I could do it as a freshman,” Barkely said. “That I could play college football.”

An Athletic Exception

A coach's search for football talent is often a flawed one.

A player might have size but lacks speed. A player might have speed but lacks size. A player might have both but lacks another defining characteristic such as intelligence or character.

Often a coach’s pursuit of the biggest, fastest, strongest athletes turns into a process of concession. Can a coach help a player overcome natural shortcomings and mold them into something great?

“You’ve seen some really good football players that are just not good people,” Huff said. “At some point, that catches up with you.”

Occasionally, though, a player who features all three needed traits is identified, which is Barkley's plane.

“When you have all three, athletically, physically and as a person, then you’re really the exception and not the norm,” Huff said. “The norm is to have a couple of those, and then as coaches you work on the other ones.

“But (Saquon has) all three. That’s the exception.”

In terms of size, Barkley isn’t hulking. At 5-foot-11, he carries a good height for a running back. But at 223 pounds, with most of his strength rooted in his lower body, Barkley is bruising. It’s a big reason why he averaged 3.82 yards after contact as a freshman, which ranked 12th nationally, per Pro Football Focus.

Barkley does not lack for speed, either. Despite his weight, Barkley runs a 4.39 40-yard dash. Barkley used that speed to post runs of 54 yards or more in three different games, and he had a rush of over 10 yards in all but one game his freshman season. It’s not just speed either, Barkley makes defenders miss; Pro Football Focus ranked Barkley as the most elusive back in college football last season.

“How do you take an angle on a guy who could run by you, and if you don’t take a good angle he’s going to run over you and keep going?” Huff said. “That’s what causes issues for defenders, where you bring more value as a running back.”

Yet Barkley’s natural talent would mean little if he didn’t have the third attribute Huff mentioned, and that’s where Barkley’s self-effacing nature comes in.

Huff said Barkley’s freshman year didn’t come as a surprise, at least on the field, but what he found himself impressed by was Barkley’s willingness to conform.

Despite the gaudy freshman numbers, Barkley didn’t earn his first start until Penn State’s eighth game of the season. For some players with Barkley’s early production that could have been an issue, but instead Barkley told the coaches he viewed the extra time on the bench as an advantage. That way, he could watch the defense get set and strategize.

“I think he's handled it unbelievably well because that's the type of kid he is,” Franklin said at Penn State’s Media Day on Aug. 4. “The good Lord doesn’t give you everything. For whatever reason, he’s been given more than most.”

Coming Along at the Right Time

Barkley served as a headline player in Franklin’s first full recruiting class at Penn State. An elite running back that played his high school ball less than 200 miles from campus, Barkley is a figure of promise on a number of levels for a program still recovering from NCAA sanctions leveled less than half a decade ago.

The Nittany Lions now have a full complement of scholarship players, but the roster is young as Franklin looks to build up after back-to-back 7-6 seasons to open his tenure.

A 1,000-yard running back, especially for a scoring offense that finished 100th nationally last season, represents a future.

Barkley isn’t the face of the Penn State program – Huff said the University will always be bigger than one player or coach – but he certainly is a notable symbol at a time Penn State is in search of an injection of excitement and, yes, hope.

“He’s come along at the right time,” Huff said. “Before we got here there were some issues that we had no control of as a coaching staff. But this program needed something the stand on. I think Saquon represents that.”

Barkley, though, isn’t focused on lifting the Penn State shield. He also claims to not pay attention to the Big Ten’s running back pecking order.

“I don’t really think of it that way,” Barkley said. “I see articles. I see what people say. But I’m not focusing on being the best Big Ten running back. Overall, I want to win games and help my team win as much as possible.”

Then Barkley’s outer crust of humility cracks, if only for a second, and he clarifies.

“I’m not OK with having someone be better than me. That’s what I strive for.”

The list of recruits, all 23, remain embedded in Barkley’s brain. But following his breakout freshman season, other names have been added.

Cook, Fournette and McCaffrey might currently occupy the upper level of the college football running back mantle, but Barkley wants to climb there. He watches the other three, takes bits and pieces of their style and attempts to incorporate those into his game.

He wants Fournette’s power, Cook’s explosiveness and McCaffrey’s versatility – Barkley may contribute on special teams this season like the Stanford star.

“Personally, I feel like I have a lot to go,” Barkley said. “Christian McCaffrey was at the Heisman ceremony and Leonard Fournette was probably at the top of the Heisman race for the majority of the season.

“A lot of people said I had a really good year, but I wasn’t satisfied with last year.”

He’s too humble to admit he’s close, at least out loud, but the 23 names appear to be in the background, and there’s only one tier left for Barkley to hurdle.