Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State Football: Pair of Nittany Lions Earn Big Ten Honors

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Two Penn State Nittany Lions have earned weekly honors from the Big Ten Conference. 

Penn State had a dominating performance on Saturday, knocking off undefeated Maryland 38-14 in front of a happy Homecoming crowd. Not surprisingly, several Nittany Lions had some impressive numbers in the win.

A pair of Penn State players have earned weekly Big Ten honors thanks to their efforts.

Running back Saquon Barkley was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Smith took home the honor on the defensive side.

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Barkley was considered among the best running backs in the nation heading into this season. Unfortunately, opposing defenses have keyed on the star back, making it difficult for him to put up numbers.

Before Saturday’s win over Maryland he had cracked the 100-yard mark just once this season. In fact, in the two previous games he failed to reach 65 yards. However, Barkley showed against the Terps why he truly is one of the best at his position.

Barkley carried the ball 31 times against Maryland for 202 yards, both career highs.

Smith, a walk-on, has been thrust into a starting linebacker position thanks to injury. He’s currently third on the team with 31 total tackles. He had his best game as a Nittany Lion Saturday, racking up a career-high 14 tackles and recording an interception. The pick was the first of his collegiate career.

This was the second-straight week a Nittany Lion defensive player was honored by the Big Ten. Last week, safety Marcus Allen was Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his 22 tackles against Minnesota.

The Nittany Lions currently sit at 4-2 and has a bye this week before hosting Ohio State on October 22.

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