Penn State Sports Magazine
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3 2 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M tral Pennsylvania, he had always been a fan of the Nittany Lions. When he en- tered the portal in March, he quickly discovered that the interest was mutual. Assistant recruiting coordinator Rashad Rich and running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider contacted him within days, and after taking a visit to campus to watch a spring practice session and meet with Seider, Potts decided to return to his home state. In the months since, the 5-foot-9, 215-pound running back said he has come to feel right at home with his new team. " T h e s e g u ys a re m y b ro t h e rs ," P o t t s s a i d . "They welcomed me and embraced me. So, when my opportunity comes, I just try to get on the field and do anything I can to help this team win." The Nittany Lions needed Potts' con- tributions in order to pull away from stubborn Northwestern in Evanston. The visitors had struggled offensively at the outset and were trailing by a touchdown late in the first half when Potts was sent into the game with Penn State facing a first-and-10 at the Northwestern 13-yard line. Replacing Nicholas Singleton, who had headed to the sideline after sustaining a hard hit, Potts took the handoff and cut to the left, slipping out of a tackler's at- tempt to trip him up at the 12-yard line and dashing into the end zone. It was Penn State's longest run of the afternoon to that point, and it also evened the score at 10-10 heading into halftime. Potts wasn't finished, either. While Singleton was able to go back into the game, fellow sophomore running back Kaytron Allen suffered a more serious injury in the first half and didn't return to action after retreating to the sideline. Allen's absence meant that Potts was going to see more action than antici- pated. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Beau Pribula floated a per- fect pass to a wide-open Potts along the seam. The play was good for a 30-yard touchdown and put the Nittany Lions up 41-13. Potts finished the game with 21 yards on 3 carries to go along with his 30 re- ceiving yards. The victory over the Wildcats offered another opportunity for his Penn State teammates to sing the praises of Potts, who previously had an 11-yard touch- down pass to tight end Tyler Warren on an option play in the third quarter of a 30-13 win at Illinois. As a veteran leader within the locker room, he has set an example for younger players on offense and defense. "Seeing him just go about his process every day, he does a great job," safety Jaylen Reed said. "He transferred as a senior. That's a huge risk, transferring somewhere as a senior already. He wasn't happy where he was at, he came here, started with limited reps, and he took his opportunity when his number was called. I'm just happy for him, happy for what the future holds for him." Singleton echoed the sentiment, de- scribing Potts as "the older cat in the running back room," a guy who "never complains about anything." More Work To Do Through five games, Penn State's rushing attack was producing mixed results. The Nittany Lions were fourth in the Big Ten with an average of 194.8 yards per game on the ground, but they weren't getting the "chunk" plays that had been such a big part of their of- fense during the 2022 season. Of the team's top three running backs, Potts had the longest run from scrimmage to that point in the season with a 20-yard gain against Delaware, and he also had the best yards-per-carry average at 5.5, though it must be noted that the major- ity of his 19 carries came late in games. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said the Nittany Lions' backfield is still developing. Singleton and Allen are rel- atively young, and Potts is a newcomer to Penn State. "They continue to learn everything there is to learn from a run game stand- point and pass protections," Yurcich said. "They've done a really good job. [The Northwestern game] was a re- ally good week for us in pass protec- tion from the tailback standpoint, but just continuing to trust their instincts, trust their vision and their speed [is im- portant] — you know, learning when to bounce and be a little bit more patient in certain A-gap runs, gap schemes and those sorts of things." To the veteran offensive coach, it's a matter of "just continuing to iron out the finer points of each play that we're running and seeing the big picture of things — why we're doing what we're doing, what we're trying to set up. That will hopefully increase our explosive- ness in the run game." Patience is one of Potts' virtues, as Penn State head coach James Franklin discovered in the months that followed the senior's arrival in State College. He was a dynamo during his time at Wil- liamsport High, carrying 347 times for 3,490 yards, but he's been part of some deep backfields at the college level, and he's been willing to put team objectives first while finding a productive niche. "He transfers in here as a senior. Didn't get a whole lot of reps and a whole lot of burn the first couple of games, but he just kept a great atti- tude and kept working," Franklin said. "When he got opportunities, he max- imized them. It's great to see him be able to come in and know that we've got three running backs that we can win with in this league." ■ "These guys are my brothers. They welcomed me and embraced me. So, when my opportunity comes, I just try to get on the field and do anything I can to help this team win." P O T T S A newcomer to Penn State's backfield, Potts rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in the team's first five games. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL