Nick Singleton jaunt demonstrates Penn State running potency
The first half of Monday’s Rose Bowl went about as James Franklin had expected. Locked in a back-and-forth with Utah, Penn State managed two successful, lengthy touchdown drives.
Virtual mirror images of the Nittany Lions’ scoring possessions, the Utes did the same. First cashing on on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, they followed Penn State’s 70-yard scoring possession with another 75-yarder of their own.
In Franklin’s view, though, the model wasn’t sustainable.
“When you’re playing a defense like that where it’s hard to get yards, you’re going to have a difficult time going on a 16-play, 80-yard drive against that defense,” Franklin said. “You’re going to have to create some explosive plays.”
Penn State explosiveness
Enter Nicholas Singleton, stage right.
Caught deep in their territory thanks to a short Utah drive and Jack Bouwmeester‘s punt to open the second half, the Nittany Lions turned to their true freshman to pick up a third-and-2 from the Penn State 13. Following a wall of blocks to his right, and Theo Johnson’s seal to the left, Singleton quickly managed the first down out of the backfield.
But, in cutting back to his right, with a stiff arm to his left, a crease was created that Singleton rarely misses. Just seven yards into his carry, with Brenton Strange handling a block to his left and KeAndre Lambert-Smith cutting off the right side of the field, Singleton was gone.
“It’s interesting. They were in cover zero. And we actually did a fake check where we were looking to the sideline and then snapped the ball. We did something similar with Saquon Barkley in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago,” Franklin said. “We caught them in cover zero. And they were in a bear front, which I wouldn’t say is the ideal front to run that play into.
“But, once you crease them, with Nick’s speed, you’re able to make a huge play and swing the momentum in the game.”
Completing the 87-yard touchdown carry, a precarious Penn State possession, deadlocked in a 14-14 game, transformed the action completely. Creating a 21-14 lead that the Nittany Lions wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way,
A year of dynamic playmaking
The play also capped a remarkable season of contrasts for Singleton and Penn State’s running game.
The Nittany Lion running backs managed just two carries of 30-or-more yards in 2021 on 280 combined attempts.
Capping his debut season with 156 carries for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns, Singleton notched at least one carry of the same distance in six of his 13 games. He finished with nine such carries for the season. And, his 87-yard touchdown carry was the third-longest scoring run in Rose Bowl history.
Emboldened by the performance, and maybe more important, by the season as a whole, Singleton expressed his confidence in what’s to come for himself and the Penn State football program as it looks toward the 2023 campaign.
“I feel like it sets me up great. Everybody knows who I am obviously now,” Singleton said. “But not just being known, for the whole team. Since we won 11 games, teams will be looking out for us next year.”
