Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1480138
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 31 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2022 campaign, Franklin's preseason op- timism has proven more than warranted. The class has provided the injection of quality depth the coach was hoping to see across the field, and in some cases, the impact has been far greater. Running back Nicholas Singleton, the reigning Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year out of Governor Mifflin High in Shillington, Pa., has been the headliner so far, a player whose effect on the team's outlook has been immediate and unmistakable. Through four games, he was leading PSU in rushing yards (376) and rushing TDs (4, tied with Sean Clif- ford), and he has set himself up to rank among the most productive running backs in the Big Ten from the outset of his career. In the process, Singleton has trans- formed the very nature of Penn State's offense. Limited to 31 yards on 10 carries in the team's opener at Purdue on Sept. 1, he wouldn't be contained much longer. De- buting in front of a Beaver Stadium crowd the next weekend against Ohio, he racked up 179 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 carries. He had runs of 70, 48 and 44 yards against the Bobcats, displaying the kind of breakaway potential that Penn State lacked last year. The Lions' longest run from scrim- mage during the 2021 season had been a 44-yarder by running back Keyvone Lee against Michigan. In a single afternoon, Singleton had equaled or surpassed that mark three times. Speaking to GoPSUSports.com after the game — Penn State does not facilitate media interviews with true freshmen — Singleton gave credit to his teammates for his breakout performance. "Credit to my linemen, they've been doing a great job since the spring, sum- mer, and now here," he said. "When I saw green, I just went." Singleton wasn't finished. Against Auburn a week later, he rushed for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 car- ries. In front of a boisterous "Orange Out" crowd of 87,451 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, he amounted to a one-man silencer. Af- ter being largely held in check in the first half, he sprinted 53 yards on Penn State's opening possession of the third quarter and plunged into the end zone two plays later to give the Lions a 21-6 advantage that they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way. Topping off the nationally televised performance with a 54-yard touchdown run in which he raced past a set of Auburn defenders into the end zone, Singleton took his place on the national scene as one of the game's ascendant young stars. He wasn't alone in the effort, though. While he was dominating the headlines, fellow true freshman running back Kay- tron Allen was also going to work. Against Auburn, the former four-star prospect from IMG Academy in Florida gained 52 efficient yards and scored 2 touchdowns on just 9 carries. A week later against Cen- tral Michigan, Allen had a game-high 111 yards on 13 attempts. In tandem, Singleton and Allen, along with an improved performance from the offensive line, were upending what had been the program's Achilles heel through- out the 2021 season. Once among the worst teams rush- ing the ball in all of college football, the Nittany Lions suddenly had the nation's 43rd-ranked rushing offense at 185.8 yards per game through the first four weeks of the 2022 season. It was an improvement of 78 yards per game from the year before. The productive, balanced scoring offense that had been Penn State's hallmark prior to the COVID-wracked 2020 season had returned. A Rare Sight In his 12th year as a head coach and 29th season in the profession, Franklin acknowledged recently that he has been "Right now, Nick is handling things pretty well. I think that's his personality. The players give him a hard time, because after he scores a touchdown or something, they say he has no swag. No swag, all substance. They love to give him a hard time, but it doesn't faze him." J A M E S F R A N K L I N O N N I C H O L A S S I N G L E T O N