Saquon Barkley on losing two straight: We didn’t finish

Just a few plays here and there and Penn State might still be looking at a B1G title and potential berth in the College Football Playoff. But two games and four points have halted all of the Nittany Lions’ hopes this season.

Penn State has had fourth quarter leads in each of the last two games, but still has suffered back-to-back defeats, falling to Ohio State and Michigan State. Surrendering a late touchdown to the Buckeyes and a game-winning field goal to the Spartans have crushed the Nittany Lions the past two weeks.

Star running back Saquon Barkley talked about his team’s issues over the last two Saturdays.

“The biggest thing I would say is we didn’t finish,” Barkley said. “These two weeks we lost by a combined four points. Obviously that’s football, but we didn’t finish. We’ve got to find ways to make plays, starting with myself…and the rest of the leaders. When the situation comes, we’ve got to make the plays. We didn’t do that the last two weeks.”

Barkley hit the nail on the head. Over the last two weeks, the Nittany Lions have played well enough to win both games but have made key mistakes late in the games, costing them back-to-back division crowns — that is unless something extremely whacky happens in the last three weeks.

With Rutgers, Nebraska and Maryland remaining on the schedule, there’s a good chance Penn State can still win 10 games this year and get into a solid bowl game.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB