UNIVERSITY PARK
It was an odd sight — a Heisman Trophy contender returning a kickoff in the second half of a 35-point blowout.
Fans were perplexed, while the ESPN announcers themselves were puzzled.
But, even in retrospect, James Franklin doesn’t regret the decision to have Saquon Barkley field the third quarter’s opening kickoff on Saturday against Akron.
That was the plan all along.
“We had it scheduled that he was going to return the first kick of the game. That’s what we decided to do,” Franklin said at his Tuesday press conference. “We didn’t get a first kick of the game until the second half.