WATCH: Penn State football offers inside look at running back battle
With college football season just weeks away, Penn State offered fans a look at how the running back battle is shaping up. The Nittany Lions tweeted a video from Wednesday’s practice showing running backs coach JaJuan Seider shouting words of encouragement as players went through drills.
“Let’s get it poppin’! Ain’t this what they been waiting for?” an excited Seider said at the beginning of the video. “…Every day is an opportunity. An opportunity to get better. An opportunity to learn. An opportunity to compete. An opportunity to go take a job.”
Penn State enters the 2022 season with five players who could potentially see time at running back. The Nittany Lions return last year’s leading rusher in Keyvone Lee as well as junior Devyn Ford and redshirt sophomore Caziah Holmes. They also added a pair of freshmen in Nick Singleton, the No. 1 running back in the 2022 class according to On3 Consensus, and four-star recruit Kaytron Allen.
As running backs went through cone drills, Seider continued to motivate them.
“Quick feet, quick feet,” the coach shouted. “Slow feet don’t eat.”
The video went on to show both Singleton and Allen breaking free for long touchdown runs. Allen in particular showed off his physicality, trucking a defender on his way to the end zone. At the conclusion of the video, Seider delivered one final message to the group.
“Keep pounding the ball. Keep running with that authority,” he said. “Let’s put this team on our back. It starts with us and it’s gonna end with us. We’re gonna play Penn State football the way we know.”
Penn State has a lot of work to do to get where it wants to be with its rushing attack after ranking 13th in the Big Ten this past season with just 107.8 ground yards per game. However, with the enthusiasm displayed at practice Wednesday, there is hope that the team is headed in the right direction.
The Nittany Lions are scheduled to kick off the 2022 season on Sept. 1 against Purdue.