WATCH: Penn State running back Nick Singleton joins elite company with 87-yard touchdown run
Penn State got a huge boost in the second half of the Rose Bowl as running back Nick Singleton broke a highlight-reel 87-yard touchdown run. With the game tied at 14-14 in the third quarter, the freshman from Reading took a run up the left side before cutting back across the middle — leaving everyone on the field in his dust as he broke the length of the field.
Nick Singleton shows up huge for Penn State
The monster run was Singleton’s second rushing touchdown of the game, racking up 120 yards and the pair of scores on just six rushes through that point. The Nittany Lions’ faithful are no stranger to seeing Singleton break home run plays open this season either. The 87-yard score was his seventh rush for over 40 yards or more on the season, and his second for over 70 yards.
Additionally, the rush was one for the record books of the historic 109th Rose Bowl — as Singleton’s rush became the third-longest rushing touchdown in the history of the game.
Singleton has only averaged a little over 12 carries per game this season, but has made the most of his touches as they’ve come with his speed. Singleton entered the final game of the year with 941 yards and ten touchdowns on the ground, as well as catching one receiving touchdown.
Singleton wasn’t the only player on his team to make their mark on the historic game, as quarterback Sean Clifford and wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith later threw the longest touchdown pass in Rose Bowl history. Clifford hit Lambert-Smith wide open down the field for an 88-yard touchdown catch — just one yard longer of a play than Singleton’s. The offensive output for the Nittany Lions found extra power from the pair of huge plays, and they pushed their lead to 35-14 by the middle of the fourth quarter.