Fiercely competitive, Penn State running backs see spring focal shift

Penn State head coach James Franklin laid out the program’s plans for the running backs this spring. Meeting with the media Tuesday afternoon ahead of spring practices, the answer was relatively straightforward. 

In Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the Nittany Lions have two returning studs in the room. Singleton is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Allen is coming off a debut season in which he led the team in rushing attempts. Combined, they are one of the most dynamic and tantalizing running back duos in the country. 

And Penn State knows it, is comfortable with it, and counting on it this season.

“I don’t think you need to do much there except feeding them the rock, from my standpoint,” offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said in January. “And I think the message for me is, we’re gonna just keep going with you guys. It is what it is. We’re just going to keep going.”

Penn State spring plan at running back

What the program doesn’t know, however, is where its third back is going to come from. Given the departures of Caziah Holmes, Devyn Ford, and Keyvone Lee over five months dating back to last August, all other scholarship experience has departed the roster this spring. Walk-ons Tank Smith and Tyler Holzworth each got game reps last season, and Amiel Davis rounds out the group of five that appeared at practice on Tuesday afternoon.

Set to add two scholarship running backs this summer in London Montgomery and Cameron Wallace, reinforcements are on the way. But, given that dynamic, one in which Penn State is confident in its returning starters and eager to learn more about what’s behind them, the program’s focal point this spring is primarily on its backups.

“We’ll get those guys a ton of reps, not just to develop depth, but also just to be smart with the other two,” Franklin said. “It’s for a number of reasons. That’s the exact reason why we ended up signing two running backs and it ended up being two high school running backs. 

“Whether the third back comes from who we currently have in the program, or whether the third back comes from an incoming freshman, that’s what we got to figure out between this spring and then summer camp as well, for depth, but also to make sure that we’re not overworking those two guys, either.”

Taking the next steps

Simple enough in theory, Penn State’s execution of that plan will demand a mindset amendment from Singleton and Allen. 

Continually feeding off one another, a program-wide embodiment of its core value to “compete in everything you do,” neither player entered March sharing the sentiment. Rather, both Singleton and Allen progressed through Penn State winter workouts with an eye on improvement.

For Singleton, that specifically included his route running, an area in which he’s vowed to take big steps this offseason. And for Allen, the tone this offseason has been similar, taking a comprehensive approach to improvement.

“It was a great season, but there are a lot of things I can be better at,” Allen told BWI. “Details, a lot of stuff really. Just doing certain things, and figuring out what I can be better at, nutrition. And, just little things I can be better at.” 

‘Competing for a job’

With both players seizing on the idea of competition as essential to personal and team improvement, they very much entered the spring intending to carry through the same mindset that lifted them into starring roles last season as true freshmen. Needing to push past Penn State’s entrenched starters in the process, it’s a perspective that applies no matter the season, no matter the intended approach for the program.

“We’re competing for a job,” Singleton said. “I haven’t been named running back. So obviously I gotta compete with Kaytron, Tank, Amiel, the running backs coming in, and Tyler too. We all gotta compete. 

“Everybody wants to be the best at what they do. I’ve been working my butt off this past season, and this upcoming season, too. You just want to be the best at whatever you do.”

Setting a high bar, it’s a path from which Singleton and Allen are unlikely to be held back.