Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1486024
8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 OPENING SHOT Freshman running back Nicholas Singleton earned a hearty handshake from his head coach after rushing for 2 touchdowns in the first half of Penn State's game against visiting Maryland on Nov. 12. And James Franklin's sincere apprecia- tion wasn't all he came away with after supplying nearly half of the Nittany Lions' points in a 30-0 victory over the Terrapins. Singleton also emerged from the game with sole possession of a school record. The two touch- downs he scored — on runs of 45 and 27 yards — were his ninth and 10th of the season, giving him the Penn State record for most rushing TDs by a freshman. Heading into the Maryland game, Singleton and classmate Kaytron Allen had been tied with 8 rushing touchdowns apiece, matching the previ- ous freshman record that had been set by Noah Cain in 2019. Singleton finished the regular season with 10 rushing touchdowns, while Allen had 9. If Singleton's runs against Maryland elicited even more excitement than usual on the Penn State sideline, it was because both occurred on fourth-and-1 plays when the Nittany Lions would have been content to simply move the chains. In both instances, the 219-pound freshman found an opening at the line of scrimmage and just kept running. On the first, he found a clear path to the end zone; on the second, he fought off a tackle attempt by Terps cornerback Deonte Banks, drag- ging him across the goal line to give the Lions a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. The Nittany Lions lined up in an old school T- formation on both plays, with senior quarterback Sean Clifford under center and the two freshman running backs in the backfield, along with junior tight end Brenton Strange. Franklin said afterward that having two big-play runners on the field at the same time gives Penn State multiple ways to attack opposing defenses. "Whenever you have people [who can break off long gains], whether it's at wide receiver or running back or tight end … it scares people," he said. "It impacts the defense, because they know if they make a mistake, it could go for 50 or 60 yards at any point. "That has really helped our offense this year. We have really done a good job of committing to short-yardage situations and getting better at it. That's something we haven't done here recently, so that's been a real positive for us this year. "I love the package that we're running. It puts the defense in a tough spot, because we can do a lot of things out of that formation. Defensively, you just can't be everywhere at once, and when you have a veteran quarterback who can sit in there and get us in the right call, that helps, too." — Matt Herb PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE