Penn State offensive surge fueled by freshman running backs in Auburn win

Even on an afternoon when just about everything went right, there was something special about the performance of Penn State’s ground game in its 41-12 thrashing of Auburn.

After prioritizing the rushing attack throughout the offseason, the Nittany Lions on Saturday showed how far they’ve come, totaling 245 yards on the ground to seize control of the second half.

For the second week in a row, freshman Nick Singleton was the star. Making the first start of his young career, he sparked a 27-point second-half barrage with runs of 53 and 54 yards, finishing the game with 124 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 10 carries.

The Lions also got a pair of scores from their other true freshman ball carrier, with Kaytron Allen totaling 52 yards on 9 carries.

It was the kind of complementary performance that coach James Franklin had hoped to see when Penn State signed the two elite running back prospects last December, although he may have thought he would have to wait a little longer for the newcomers to begin playing such decisive roles.

“I have not seen two guys have this kind of success this early in their career,” Franklin said. “We were pretty excited signing them. We were pretty excited once they got on campus, because recruiting is wonderful, but you never truly know till they show up on campus. They kept making plays and doing things; they have kind of a complementary style. They both have the ability to make plays. I think Kaytron has got really good vision. He takes a 4-yard run and makes it a 12- or 16-yard run on a consistent basis. And as you know, Nick has the ability to go 80. 

“So, they’re doing well. I think [position coach] Ja’Juan Seider has done a great job of getting them ready from a mental perspective as well, protections, all that stuff. But they’re pretty impressive.”

Another big afternoon

Singleton had rushed for 179 yards against Ohio a week earlier, but his performance on Saturday is likely to garner more national attention. While Auburn may be going through a rough patch at the moment, it’s a traditional SEC power with a proud football tradition, and yet the two Nittany Lion freshmen carved up the Tigers in the second half.  

Singleton got Penn State rolling in the third quarter with a 53-yard carry to the Tigers’ 5-yard line. Two plays later, the freshman scored a 1-yard touchdown to give the Lions a 21-6 lead. 

Early in the fourth quarter, Singleton slammed the door on whatever slender comeback hopes Auburn may have been entertaining at that point in the game. The Tigers had showed signs of life on their first touchdown drive of the game, trimming Penn State’s lead to 19 points with nearly the entire fourth quarter still to play, but Singleton responded with a 54-yard burst down the right sideline. 

“Nick definitely took a huge step today,” Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford said. “He did it last week. I thought it was impressive to do it on a big stage like this. A lot of people are talking about him. And I think that he’s coming around.

Looking ahead for the Penn State freshmen duo

So now, after going 17 games without a 100-yard rushing performance by one of their ball carriers, the Nittany Lions have put together two such performances in row. Singleton has 334 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season, with an average of 11.1 yards per carry. After just three games, he’s more than halfway toward surpassing Keyvone Lee’s team-high season rushing total of 530 yards last year. 

Lee, too, was part of the running back rotation on Saturday, but he was slowed by what appeared to be a knee injury in the first half and finished the game with just 4 carries for 18 yards.

No matter how their depth chart shapes up in the weeks to come, the Lions have displayed an ability to generate big plays on the ground — an ability they lacked all last season. That can’t help but bode well for next week’s nonconference finale against Central Michigan and the Big Ten season that lies beyond. As Franklin noted on Saturday, “We have some dynamic backs that create explosive plays.”