Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540433
3 6 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M high level and is making him an explosive ball carrier." Playing Free Allen's performance, combined with a very inconsistent and mostly unproduc- tive start to the season for Singleton, has made the Nittany Lions' usage plan for the two running backs somewhat puz- zling. Drayton noted that Allen has been making the most of the touches he's get- ting. The problem is, to many outside observers, he's not getting enough of them. Over the team's first five games, Sin- gleton out-snapped Allen 173-146. That led to a 63-45 disparity in carries even though Allen had more total rushing yards (377 to 239), yards per carry (6.9 to 3.8) and touchdowns (6 to 5). At his Monday news conference two days after Penn State's 42-37 loss to UCLA on Oct. 4 — a game in which Singleton had 13 touches for 55 yards to Allen's 9 touches for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns — Franklin suggested that perhaps the staff would change the way the workload was being partitioned. "I don't think there's any doubt that Kaytron is having a good year and has been very productive," Franklin said. "That's what we look at each week — how are we getting him touches? It's not necessarily play count, but also oppor- tunities that he has to go touch the ball. "That's something we discuss as an offensive staff each week. When things don't go well, that's one of the first things you look at and you say, 'He needs more touches and should have had more touches in the [UCLA] game.'" Would Penn State be in better shape right now if Allen had handled the foot- ball more frequently in the first half of the season? It's always hard to make a counterfactual argument, but with the Nittany Lions owning the nation's No. 52 rushing offense going into the North- western game on Oct. 11, it was clear that the status quo wasn't good enough. Against the Wildcats, Allen rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries, a tacit admis- sion that he hadn't gotten the ball often enough in previous games. To his credit, Allen has not pointed fingers or pouted. Instead, he has con- tinued to focus on what he can do better with the opportunities that he's getting. "I think I'm playing better than I was," he said. "I've still got a lot of things that I need to work on. I've just been trying to play free — sticking to what got me here, just being me and trying to get better and learn from everything. I don't think I've hit my peak yet. I'm still reaching for it." PENN STATE'S CAREER RUSHING LEADERS Rk. Player Years Yards 1. Evan Royster 2007-10 3,932 2. Saquon Barkley 2015-17 3,843 3. Curt Warner 1979-82 3,398 4. Kaytron Allen 2022-pres. 3,344 5. Tony Hunt 2003-06 3,320 6. Blair Thomas 1985-87, '89 3,301 7. Curtis Enis 1995-97 3,256 8. D.J. Dozier 1983-86 3,227 9. Nicholas Singleton 2022-pres. 3,171 10. Larry Johnson 1999-2002 2,953 Allen's signature door-kick touchdown celebration has been a familiar sight. Through six games this season, he had scored 35 touchdowns in his Penn State career. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS