Penn State’s Nicholas Singleton puts spring focus on patience, film study

Few runners in college football possess Nicholas Singleton’s combination of size and speed.

Penn State’s third-year junior racked up more than 1,800 rushing yards and totaled 24 touchdowns during his first two seasons at Penn State.

The 6-foot, 226-pound Singleton again will team with classmate Kaytron Allen to lead the Nittany Lions’ rushing attack in the fall.

Singleton spent some time on Zoom with several members of the Penn State media recently. Here are some takeaways from that chat.

• Patience and film study are two of Singleton’s top priorities this spring.

After running for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2022, Singleton’s numbers slipped a bit last season. He ran for 752 yards, and his average per carry dropped from 6.8 yards to 4.4.

“Just being patient in the backfield and when I see a hole, just run through it,” Singleton said when asked about his approach. “I’m not trying to overthink stuff, just trust my instincts.”

• The Governor Mifflin High School standout also was asked about the challenge of making an unblocked defender miss at the point of attack, one of the keys to turning a short gain into a long one.

“It’s always challenging,” he said. “It’s stuff we work on in practice. … Making everybody miss, making the safety miss, it’s always that last defender we gotta make miss.

“Once you do that, you score a touchdown.”

• Singleton likes what he’s seen from new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

“He’s been really good, ever since he stepped on campus,” Singleton said of the former Kansas OC who replaced Mike Yurcich. “I’ve been building a great relationship with him. Just the offense he has, everybody’s excited about it.

“He’s giving the best players the ball, so everybody’s gotta show up during the spring and (August) camp.”

• A couple of young Lions are making strides in the competition to become the third back.

Penn State had veteran Trey Potts in the No. 3 role last season, and Potts was effective as a runner and a receiver.

Redshirt freshmen Cam Wallace and London Montgomery and January enrollee Quinton Martin (Belle Vernon) are battling for Potts’ old role.

“Cam’s been really good, in the weight room, on the field, meeting room, always asking questions … it’s just translating to the field,” Singleton said of the 5-9, 199-pound Wallace. “He’s been really good, so far. He’s gotta keep working, man. He’s been good.”

And what about the 6-1, 194-pound Martin, one of the most coveted players in James Franklin’s 2024 recruiting class?

“Quinton’s been really good,” Singleton said. “Coming in as a freshman early is really important, too, just to learn the offense early in the spring.”