Nov. 6—Penn State football coach James Franklin said Monday the Nittany Lions will continue rotating sophomores Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen at running back.
Allen leads Penn State in rushing with 573 yards on 119 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per curry and 63.7 per game. He ran 14 times for 91 yards last week in a 51-15 blowout win at Maryland.
Singleton, the former Gov. Mifflin standout, has run 121 times for 480 yards, seven touchdowns, 4.0 yards per carry and 53.3 per game. He carried eight times for a season-low 20 yards against the Terrapins.
Singleton and Allen have been mostly responsible for the Lions ranking third in the Big Ten in rushing with 173.2 yards per game.
“I think we did this last year and it was pretty successful,” Franklin said after being asked if he considered going with a lead back. “We’re doing it this year and it’s been pretty successful.
“We feel very comfortable with the model and the plan and how we’re using it.”
Singleton, the 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, had 12 runs of at least 21 yards last season, but his longest rush this season has been for 20 yards.
He has caught 19 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown and has returned 11 kickoffs for a 25.3 average. He’s fourth in the Big Ten in kickoff returns and fifth in all-purpose yards with 100.7 per game. His 51-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter immediately followed a Maryland touchdown that cut it to 31-15.
“The kickoff return was a big play in the game,” Franklin said, “not only from a field position standpoint. They had just scored and got a little bit of momentum. To be able to respond right away with that play was huge.”
Penn State used Singleton’s return to set up Allen’s 11-yard run that made it 38-15.
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