On3 Roundtable: Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen key as Drew Allar finds footing as Penn State QB1

Penn State is becoming a trendy pick as a bit of a darkhorse contender for the College Football Playoff, given the returning talent. Much of that is predicated on über-talented quarterback Drew Allar, but Blue and White Illustrated’s Sean Fitz thinks Penn State will be leaning on the run game early in the year.

It’s not that Allar doesn’t have the ability or physical tools — those are without question — but whether a second-year quarterback taking over the helm can dive in without a hiccup. Assuming that Allar will have his share of growing pains, Fitz emphasized during an On3 Roundtable how critical the run game, led by backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, will be.

“What’s funny about this is Drew’s got the talent. There’s no question about it. He’s a former five star, big guy, just everything prototypical about him. But a lot of this is going to go to the running game. You look at what Nick Singleton brings to the table, Kaytron Allen, that offensive line is coming. And I think they’re going to do a lot to help Drew come along,” Fitz said.

As true freshmen in 2022, Allen and Singleton were the top two ball carriers for Penn State. Allen carried 167 times for 867 yards and 10 touchdowns, and had some receiving upside with 20 catches for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown. Singleton had a little more pop toting the rock, taking 156 carries for 1061 yards and 12 scores.

But all told, the duo combined for 1928 yards at a 5.97 yards per carry clip as true freshmen.

And with Allar mostly needing reps and game experience to get up to speed and fine-tune his decision making, having a potentially dominant rushing attack could be a gift. With games against West Virginia, Illinois and Iowa all in the first month of the season, the running back tandem could be key to Penn State avoiding an early blemish.

“So he’s going to need help to settle himself in,” Fitz said. “I don’t think there’s many doubts in terms of ‘Can he make the throws?’ it’s ‘Can he make the decisions?’ When you talk about Sean Clifford, so much of what he did was before the snap, getting guys in the right spot. That’s something that’s going to have to come with experience. I’m not sure that Drew has that experience just yet. But he’s got the talent and really, I think they’ve got the pieces to get him where he needs to be. It’s just going to take a couple of weeks to settle in, probably.