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NittanyCentral delivers expert analysis from veteran reporters and timely updates on Penn State sports, with in-depth coverage of Nittany Lions Football, Wrestling, Basketball, and more.

NittanyCentral

NittanyCentral delivers expert analysis from veteran reporters and timely updates on Penn State sports, with in-depth coverage of Nittany Lions Football, Wrestling, Basketball, and more.

Penn State Football, Nick Singleton

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen Are Back—And They Have One Goal in 2025

Penn State running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, they need no introduction.

They’re our own version of Thunder and Lightning, aka Fatman and Saint Nick. It kind of has a nice Mardi Gras ring to it as we barrel into the ides of March, don’t they?

The LawnBoyz you ask?

Who knows, it’s wait and see, I guess.

On the heels of the recent departure of RB Coach Ja’Juan Sieder, that will be up to the two who made the absolute most out of that moniker to decide if it continues on or not.

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen’s Improbable Penn State Return

Penn State Football, Nick Singleton
Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)
Truth be told, few if any expected both to be back as Seniors, and as the dust settled on 2024, chances were better than not that we had seen the last of this dynamic duo altogether.
As the Notre Dame-colored confetti trickled down in Miami who could blame them really? They’ve been attached at the hip since the day they arrived in Happy Valley, had just run roughshod over all three opponents in the postseason, and had methodically climbed into the Top 10 list of all-time rushing leaders at Penn State.
To top it all off, there’s no way they didn’t hear all those desperate echoes from Nittany Lions fans across the entire country begging and pleading for PSU coaches to just feed them the darn rock, as we watched a rematch with Ohio State slowly slip away.
Following that end-of-season loss, their legacies were firmly set in stone.
There was nothing left to prove at the college level, and yet, true to form, less than a week later back-to-back tweets by both confirmed their intentions to return for a fourth season.


Singleton, Allen Figure to Play Starring Role in Penn State Title Chase

Penn State Football, Kaytron Allen
Penn State Nittany Lions running back Kaytron Allen (Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images)
Pen State quarterback Drew Allar had already let it be known he was coming back, Zane Durant and Zakee Wheatley soon followed along with a few others, but it was the re-commitments by Allen and Singleton that came down from the rooftops and reaffirmed that this squad had unfinished business to attend to first.
All of which leads us to the whole point of the article at hand, predicting the season that lies ahead for Singleton and Allen.
Easier said than done, believe it or not
I mean, considering the way those two ran during the playoff run I’d be liable to keep them in street clothes all the way until December if it were me calling the shots!
Thankfully for all of us at home, it’s not, so those decisions go to the ones that make the big bucks, and the way I see it they have a dilemma on their hands, albeit a good one to have for sure.
One thing I’m pretty certain of, do not expect to see them at all this spring, other than to sign autographs and take some photo ops.
Nick Singleton, Penn State Football
Penn State running back Nick Singleton (Syndication: Hanover Evening Sun)
With a handful of backs waiting in the wings to carry the torch, including Quentin Martin, Corey Smith, highly regarded incoming Freshman Tikey Hayes, and Cam Wallace(coming off an injury of his own) there’s no need to risk injury to the two workhorses who have been there and done that enough already.
That sentiment might carry over into August camp and even linger into early or mid-September, given the more than favorable schedule early on.
The aforementioned backups have much to prove so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we don’t see Allen and Singleton carry a full workload until Oregon comes to town for the Ducks’ first Whiteout experience at the end of September.
Penn State was able to navigate themselves all the way to the last four standing with two losses during the first season of the expanded College Football Playoff, so you better believe if either back so much as stubs a toe or tweaks an ankle the phrase ‘no pain, no gain’ will not apply to them until absolutely necessary.
You see, as hard as it may be to actually predict how many yards or carries these two will end up with, one thing I am pretty certain of … They did not return to pad their stats, add their names to the record books, or even improve their draft stock.
Not even close.
You see, this Dynamic Duo came back for one reason and one reason alone and that was to kick down that door and finish the job they started in 2024.
With Fat Man and Saint Nick leading the charge, I would not bet against them.

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