After playing 30 consecutive games since arriving on campus in State College, Penn State Football junior superstar running back Nick Singleton missed his first career game with an injury against UCLA last Saturday.
Singleton was officially listed as “questionable” for the matchup with the Bruins, and participated in pregame warmups before ultimately being ruled out. Penn State head coach James Franklin noted after the game that he “thought” Singleton would go against the Bruins after being a limited participant in Penn State’s practice and walkthrough on Thursday and Friday but acknowledged that he knew Singleton would not be 100 percent.
However, on Monday, Franklin discussed his confidence in Singleton returning for the Nittany Lions against the Trojans this week in Penn State’s first Big Ten road test of the season.
Franklin noted that “We’re very confident, and I think Nick’s very confident talking to him on Sunday, that he’ll be ready to go.” Franklin continued that he “anticipated” Singleton returning for Penn State’s offense this week as long as he did not suffer any setbacks in practice this week.
Why the Nittany Lions need Nick Singleton back against the Trojans
Penn State’s offense desperately needs Singleton to return against the Trojans to have the best shot at remaining unbeaten and on a course for the expanded college football playoff this season.
USC is one of Penn State’s toughest remaining games on the schedule, especially when you factor in the extended travel that Penn State has to go to play in Los Angeles.
To give Penn State the best shot to win, the Lions’ defense must focus on the weakness of the USC defense, the Trojans run defense.
USC ranks 17th out of 18 in the Big Ten in run defense, giving up 158.6 rushing yards per game. When you factor in carries, the Trojans’ defense gives up 5.0 yards per rushing attempt, 102nd nationally. In USC’s two losses this season, the Trojans’ run defense has been exposed, with Minnesota rushing for 193 yards on 40 carries (4.8 yards per carry) and Michigan rushing for 290 yards on 46 carries (6.3 yards per carry).
Penn State has led a balanced offensive attack this season, balancing between quarterback Drew Allar’s air attack with a reinvigorated wide receiver corps and one of the best tight ends in the nation in Tyler Warren, and a dominant rushing two-headed monster of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has done a good job scheming between games to take advantage of the weakness of the opposing defense. If this holds true for Kotelnicki’s gameplan against the Trojans, Penn State will run the football a lot on Saturday.
What Nick Singleton Adds Back into Penn State Offense
In Singleton’s one-game absence against UCLA, Penn State’s rushing offense had its worst game of the season (albeit against the best running defense that the Nittany Lions have faced thus far).
Penn State averaged only 2.8 yards per attempt and only 85 yards rushing for the game (the Nittany Lions lowest total this season by 137 yards!). Singleton’s absence forced fellow junior running back Kaytron Allen to shoulder more of the load with the highest number of carries in his career (21-tied with three other games) and took away some of the explosiveness of Penn State’s running game.
Penn State’s longest rush against the Bruins was a season low 11 yards.
Singleton’s return against USC is extremely important for the Nittany Lions to both distribute the workload better between Allen and Singleton to allow both to be more effective in the running game, but also to add back in the explosiveness that Penn State has seen in the running game this season.
As former Nittany Lions offensive lineman and host of the Behind the Wall Podcast Landon Tengwall pointed out Wednesday, the Trojans’ defense has given up plenty of explosive runs this season. So far in 2024, USC’s defense has allowed rushes of 39, 40, 41, 47, and 63 yards this season. On the opposite side of the field, Singleton had returned to 2022 form this season for the Nittany Lions, breaking off seven runs over 15 yards, including three runs over 40 yards, while averaging 7.7 yards per carry this season.
Singleton has also been extremely dangerous for Penn State as a pass catcher out of the backfield, ranking sixth on Penn State’s team with six catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns through the air this season.
Singleton’s stats in the passing game more than double the production from any other running back on the roster through five games.
Singleton’s return against USC against the porous USC defense is a match made in heaven for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki if Singleton is healthy. If Singleton is able to go for the Nittany Lions, put him on highlight alert because he could break loose at any moment for a touchdown against the Trojans defense.
Now Nittany Lions fans will have to just wait in anticipation to see whether number 10 trots out onto the field beside Drew Allar for the Nittany Lions Saturday afternoon.
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