Penn State running back Saquon Barkley leads all FBS players with 243.6 all-purpose yards per game and has seen his workload increase since last season. Through five games, Barkley has rushing, receiving and return touchdowns and only four players have more touches than his 121, 23 more than he had at this point last season.

STATE COLLEGE — Saquon Barkley’s first career touchdown pass didn’t look as good on replay as he envisioned it would. But it worked, unlike the first time the running back tried to throw one.

“You can tell, I can’t throw the ball at all,” Barkley said of his fourth-quarter jump-lob last week. “I was completely nervous because you can ask my teammates, that play didn’t go too well in practice.”

In practice, Barkley’s release was bad and the ball stuck in his palm on the follow-through. It went straight into the ground, drawing groans, laughs and — as Barkley put it — politically incorrect ribbing from teammates.

But it didn’t stop offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead from turning right back to it in a playbook that’s loaded with ways to unleash No. 26. After all, most of them work thanks to the 5-foot-11, 230-pound back’s frenetic ability to spin, juke or leap over or through defenders seemingly at will.

“I don’t think that anything the kid does can surprise you anymore,” Moorhead said. “I think the Iowa game was a microcosm of the kid’s skillset: 350-plus all-purpose yards, he did it on the ground, did it catching the ball, did a very good job in pass protection. I don’t get to see every player in the country on a weekly basis but if there’s a better one, I’d be hard pressed to believe it.”

Moorhead has tried a lot — swing passes, shovel passes, dump-offs and laterals just in the last game — to get his star more action. Most of it has worked.

Barkley leads all FBS players with 243.6 all-purpose yards per game through five games and averages a first down per play. He’s scored rushing, receiving and return touchdowns and only four players have more touches than his 121, 23 more than he had at this point last season.

His rushing responsibilities haven’t changed, however. Barkley’s 86 carries equal what he had at this point last year. But as defensive coordinators have pledged to limit Barkley’s running room, Moorhead has opted to utilize his best player’s receiving skills. Barkley has responded as the team’s leading receiver so far with 386 yards on 27 catches.

Franklin was confident his star running back could handle this kind of workload. Barkley increased his workout intensity year after year to reinforce that feeling.