Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1488968
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 3 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State's highly rated 2022 recruiting class has shined in its first season on campus P enn State's James Franklin has many traits that have turned him into one of college football's most high-profile coaches. One of those traits is a talent for making preseason predictions that hold up in the fall. There are countless examples from years past. In 2015, he said that former walk-on defensive end Carl Nassib was due for a breakout year. Nassib ended up setting a school record with 15.5 sacks. Franklin also said that safety Jaquan Brisker was going to be a star in 2021. Brisker ended up winning All-America honors and eventually becoming a sec- ond-round NFL Draft pick. This past summer, the veteran coach was bullish about his incoming freshman class, which placed seventh in the On3 team rankings. "We want to be able to come into camp with those freshmen and give them a le- gitimate chance to compete for a starting position, or if not, let them have an op- portunity to compete for playing time in terms of depth," Franklin said at Big Ten Media Days in July. "That's going to be very, very important to us." Penn State did exactly that in 2022. First-year running backs Nicholas Sin- gleton and Kaytron Allen took charge in the backfield, with Singleton passing third-year sophomore Keyvone Lee on the depth chart after the team's first two games, and Allen steadily working his way into the rotation as well. Lee was sidetracked by an unspecified injury that kept him off the field for most of October and all of November. With Lee out of action and little depth behind them, Singleton and Allen ended up ac- counting for 305 of Penn State's 458 car- ries during the regular season. Given an opportunity to learn on the job, they both made strides between the opener at Purdue and the season finale opposite Michigan State. Singleton became more willing to let the play develop in front of him instead of trying to use his speed and athleticism to force something to happen too soon. Al- len refined his ability to run between the tackles and eat up the tough yards that Penn State needed to stay on schedule. Singleton, who was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in late November, had 149 carries for 941 yards and set a Penn State freshman record with 10 rush- ing touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 85 yards and a score, seeing action on 361 offensive snaps. Allen totaled 156 carries for 830 yards and 9 rushing scores in addition to mak- ing 17 catches for 172 yards and a touch- down on 410 snaps. Both players burned their redshirts af- ter just five games, but that was certainly a worthwhile bargain, with Singleton and Allen each making at least one freshman All-America team. Franklin said the youthful backfield tandem enabled Penn State to achieve the balance it wanted on offense throughout the season. "That was obviously a big part of our success, really as a team … to be able to sustain drives and make big plays," Frank- lin said in December. "It's unusual to do it with a freshman, let alone two true fresh- men, but they complemented each other really well, and we were able to not only run the ball but create more explosive plays with our play-action pass game, and you mix a little RPO in there, as well. It's been really good. "I think it's really helped our offense. It's helped our quarterback. It's helped our offensive line. Those guys have been big-time players for us all year long." Linebacker Abdul Carter had a similar impact on the opposite side of the ball. Donning the program's fabled No. 11 jer- sey, which had previously belonged to the likes of LaVar Arrington and Micah Par- sons, Carter honored those predecessors with a strong initial season in blue and white. He had 55 tackles including a team- high 10.5 for loss heading into the Rose Bowl and also led the Lions in sacks with 6.5 and forced fumbles with 2. Following the regular season, he re- ceived second-team All-Big Ten recog- G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M BRIGHT AND EARLY