Ready to run: Penn State backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton set to fly into third season
Penn State enters the 2024 season with two of the better running backs in the Big Ten and one of the top duos in the country. One of them ranks inside of the top 100 overall players in EA College Football ‘25. Both have a spot on Athlon’s preseason All-Big Ten teams. Each of them produced at the college level during their first two seasons in State College. Yet, despite all of that, juniors Nicholas Singleton (No. 37 overall and the No. 5 running back in the highly-anticipated video game) and Kaytron Allen feel disrespected. Thus, they are setting out to right what they feel is a wrong this fall.
“This is my statement year,” Allen, who is often referred to by his nickname “Fat Man,” told Blue-White Illustrated in an exclusive July interview. “I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on me. I got something to prove this year.”
In a separate interview, Singleton acknowledged the “doubters” as well, and noted running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider constantly fuels the fire by sending articles or social media posts that act as a driving force. Various preseason publications left the Lions’ running backs room out of their national top fives, for example. Surely, those links were shared.
“It’s motivation for sure,” Singleton said. “I know there’s a lot of doubters still with me and Fat Man and the whole running back room. But, we just have to keep our heads down and keep working.”
Breaking down what might be college football’s greatest statistical anomaly
Singleton, a Pa., native, and Allen, from Virginia, might be college football’s greatest statistical anomaly. In a world where sharing is not necessarily caring in the chase to pile up stats and win individual awards to earn more name, image, and likeness money, and also one where the option to leave for a more lucrative financial and/or playing time situation is more easily accessible than ever before, neither has flinched at the idea of moving on to be the proverbial man somewhere else.
Despite both players’ immense talent, only Singleton has topped the 1,000-yard mark in a single season at Penn State, and he did so by just 61 yards as a freshman in 2022 en route to winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors as both backs scored double-digit touchdowns (Singleton 12 to Allen’s 10). This past season, Allen had more yards (902 to 752), but Singleton found the end zone on the ground more (eight to six). It’s easy to imagine a world where one of them decided that having the chance to get those combined numbers, or maybe even more, all by themselves was an idea worth chasing. Instead, their friendship and trust in the plan laid out by head coach James Franklin and Seider have both back in State College this year despite the odds that might be against that reality from the outside looking in.
More: Breaking down Penn State’s player ratings in College Football ’25
“It’s just loving each other, man, feeding off each other, and just like I said, taking a load off each other,” Singleton said. “It just means a lot. Especially when you want to get to the next level and try to be as healthy as possible.
“We just, we don’t have that type of, I don’t want to say the word, like greed, but it’s like, we love each other. We always look out for each other. We just get happy when we score with each other. So, it just means a lot.”
Allen sang a similar tune.
“We both support each other and help each other out,” he said. “We aren’t being selfish towards each other, aren’t shying away from each other; like I said, we compete on and off the field. We’re always trying to talk and communicate with each other and trying to help each other grow for real. That’s why I think we continue to keep going and growing as the years go by.”
The growing process is aided by Penn State assistant Ja’Juan Seider
Seider has been instrumental in fostering that relationship. His ability to accurately map out how each player’s career would go before the player lived it – everything from early playing time (which both got) to being on the field together and being co-starters – is as much of a reason why both are ready to roll with Penn State in 2024 as anything. That doesn’t mean getting to this point was a walk in the park, of course. There is little doubt that both players had options elsewhere they could have pursued this offseason. But neither did.
“It wasn’t easy, because we all know that people were calling these kids behind closed doors and trying to play one against the other,” Seider said. “But it says a lot about who they are as men and how loyal they are. … I knew some things were going on. There’s not a secret out there that I don’t talk to those guys about, because they know I’ve got their best interests at heart. There’s nobody who’s going to fight for them more than I am. I’m going to take the heat for them.”
He later added on the idea of the pair sticking together:
“They know, ‘I can still achieve all my goals and have a chance to do what we all want to do — and that’s win and still at the end of the day have an opportunity to play in the NFL,'” Seider said. “Could it have been different if they were the feature back? Yeah. We all know they could be 1,600-1,700-yard rushers easily. But they put individual goals aside for team goals. And that says a lot about these two kids in this world where we can all be selfish.”
Looking ahead to 2024
With the past out of the way, the focus now is on the future. On the field, Allen, who now stands 5-foot-11, 229 pounds, said his biggest offseason gains have come in the areas of receiving. Off the field, he put plenty of film room time in this winter, spring, and summer to have a more complete understanding of how defenses are trying to stop him and the Lions’ offense.
“The way I was looking at things before I came in, like as a freshman, I just wanted to run the ball,” Allen said. “I just liked getting the ball and running the ball. But then, I started to figure like, you have to do more than just run the ball. You got to play without the ball. You have to catch the ball and help other players on your team. Block for them, just doing different things, and not just running the ball.”
Singleton has improved his speed. He’s now running a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at 227 pounds, down from the 4.39-second mark he posted at 216 pounds two years ago. He, too, has put an added emphasis on the X’s and O’s.
“Studying defenses more, seeing what type of front they’re in, pre-snap, post-snap. Just seeing what the defensive lineup is so I can react faster,” Singleton said. “Just being patient in the backfield, and when I see a hole, I just run through it. “I’m not trying to overthink stuff. Just trust my instincts. I’m going to try to split the defense and score.”
Ready to run
Both are eager to see how they are deployed by first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Known as a mad scientist of sorts when it comes to game planning, the former Kansas playcaller who replaces Mike Yurcich on Franklin’s staff will undoubtedly maximize both players’ abilities.
“Their film was very, very impressive,” Kotelnicki said. I tell you one specific guy that I just think is going to explode this year. And I hate saying this because it feels like Kaytron was kind of bouncing back from an injury in the bowl game. But Nick Singleton is really trying to diversify himself. He has done a great job of being multiple.”
On Allen, he added:
“He’s so much more introverted than Nick. And it’s kind of funny when you talk to him. But when Kaytron starts talking to you, you can see how he gets excited about doing different things in the offense. He’s good. They’re good running backs. All the characteristics you think about good running backs, those guys have.”
Each can envision a role that’s all his own and yet complementary to the other. And, at the very least, both seemed destined to be more involved in the passing game than ever before in blue and white.
“You get to do a lot of different things [in Kotelnicki’s offense],” Allen said. “It isn’t just you standing in the backfield. You could be in the slot. You could be the outside receiver. You’re just doing different types of things to show our talents. It’s a great offense.
Now, it’s about taking those compliments to the field. Both have done so throughout their first two seasons. Now, each is ready to take his game to another level. If they do, it will take the Penn State offense to one, too.
The post Ready to run: Penn State backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton set to fly into third season appeared first on On3.
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