‘I want to do damage’: What Penn State RB Kaytron Allen has in store for the 2023 season

STATE COLLEGE — Nick Singleton became a household name in college football after his Rose Bowl heroics. He enters the 2023 campaign on watch lists for the Maxwell and Walter Camp awards, given at the end of the year to the top player in the country. And to be fair, Singleton deserves all the attention he’s received.

But there’s another budding star in Penn State’s backfield who might be getting slept on, at least nationally.

Kaytron Allen is the thunder to Singleton’s lightning. He’s half of one of the best running back tandems in the sport — a duo eager to lead Penn State into a season enveloped by Big Ten expectations and College Football Playoff aspirations.

James Franklin recognizes how integral Allen is to what the Nittany Lions want to achieve this fall. And he believes anyone who knows ball understands that, too.

“We’ve got two No. 1 backs. That’s how we treat them internally,” Franklin said after Monday’s practice. “I think the local media, the local fans and the team know how special he is. They’re really good complementary pieces. Because although they’re both big backs, they have different running styles.

“I think real football people nationally know all about him. And I know how much our fans and our team and you guys as the media respect him. We love him. He continues to get better. … I think he’s going to have a big year for us.”

Doing so would be a continuation of what Allen accomplished last year. As a true freshman, Allen rushed for 867 yards and 10 touchdowns on 167 carries. Only two Big Ten backs rushed for more yards on fewer attempts: Singleton (1,061 yards, 156 carries) and Michigan’s Donovan Edwards (991 yards, 140 carries).

If you told a casual college football fan that Singleton didn’t lead Penn State in attempts last year, they might be surprised. It really was a joint effort. It was also a historic effort as Allen and Singleton became the first freshman teammates in Big Ten history to each rush for 700 or more rushing yards.

But what happened in 2022 stays in 2022. It’s in the past. That’s how Allen views it, adding that he and Singleton are looking to “be dominant” and “do even more damage” this upcoming campaign.

What does more damage look like, exactly? “Explosive runs. Running through people,” Allen said Monday. “Getting yards that we need to help the team win.”

It was hard for Allen to fight back a smile when talking about running through defenders. While he’s shown he can do it all — cut, shimmy, show patience, you name it — Allen became synonymous with lowering the boom.

Singleton led the Big Ten with runs of 40 yards or more. But Allen had more carries of at least 10 yards, ranking fourth in the conference. He did that with his aforementioned patience. He also wasn’t afraid to initiate and overcome contact.

“I like running through people,” Allen said. “I want to make people not want to hit me anymore. That’s why I want to do damage. I want to make them scared of me.”

Allen and Singleton struck fear in opposing defenses as last season wore on and they grew into their roles. Now, Allen has improved even more.

Running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said Allen is more comfortable than he was this time last summer. He’s more vocal. He’s “seeing the game” better, which is impressive given how expansive Allen’s vision was as a freshman. He’s anticipating sooner and reacting quicker, the mark of a tailback with experience.

The work isn’t done, of course. Allen felt like he left too many yards out on the field last year. He’s far from the finished product, which he acknowledged.

But this version of Allen is good enough to help push Penn State toward its big picture goals. He might just run over a linebacker or two on the way there.