Penn State-Central Michigan: Running back clash highlights Saturday's non-conference matchup

A lot of people will probably look at the score of Central Michigan’s most recent game, notice that the Chippewas were playing a Patriot League foe, and write off the lopsided result as the byproduct of a glaring mismatch.

Central Michigan coach Jim McElwain is not one of those people.

“I don’t care if you’re playing air,” McElwain said Saturday after his players had just gotten done thrashing Bucknell 41-0. “It’s tough to do what they did today and have a performance as dominating as that. That was a really good thing.”

The extent of Central Michigan’s domination was evident in the numbers. The Chippewas outgained Bucknell 529 yards to 174, totaled 29 first downs to the Bison’s 12, and forced 9 punts while punting only twice themselves. It was a thorough clock cleaning on both sides of the ball. 

But while Central Michigan wasn’t playing air last week, it was playing an opponent from a lower division. That will not be the case this coming Saturday when the Chippewas go up against that other prominent central Pennsylvania football program. The challenge will be of an entirely different magnitude, with Central Michigan set to meet unbeaten, 14th-ranked Penn State at noon in Beaver Stadium.

They may have held the Bison to 21 total rushing yards, but this week the Chippewas will find themselves facing a running back in Penn State freshman Nick Singleton who has quickly proven to be every bit as good as his five-star high school resume suggested he would be. Singleton has only 30 carries so far but has amassed 334 yards and 4 touchdowns. He gained 179 of those yards against one of Central Michigan’s rivals from the Mid-American Conference, sparking a 46-10 romp over Ohio two weeks ago with runs of 70, 48 and 44 yards. 

Nick Singleton is staying grounded for Penn State

Penn State coach James Franklin said Tuesday that the newcomer from Shillington, Pa., has stayed grounded even as he has started to gain national attention. 

“Right now, Nick is handling things pretty well,” Franklin said. “I think that’s his personality. The players give him a hard time, because after he scores a touchdown or something, they say he has no swag. No swag, all substance. They love to give him a hard time, but it doesn’t faze him.

“He’s said 17 words since he’s been at Penn State. Very Steady Eddie, level-headed, doesn’t get too high or get too low. I think how he was raised with his family as well as the program that he came from, Governor Mifflin, [did] a really good job preparing him for this. And I think the relationships that he’s built with our staff have helped. So far, so good.”

Central Michigan has a highly productive ball carrier of its own. Running back Lew Nichols III led the FBS last year in both carries (341) and rushing yards (1,848) and was tied for ninth in rushing touchdowns (16). He also had 40 pass receptions for 338 yards and 2 scores.

A 5-foot-11, 222-pounder, Nichols has been a force for the Chippewas since arriving out of Cass Tech in Detroit. He was the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020, leading the team with 508 rushing yards in six games and setting the stage for his heroics last fall, which helped Central Michigan go 9-4 with a victory over Washington State in the Sun Bowl. 

Early-season struggles

Now a fourth-year redshirt sophomore, Nichols got off to a slow start this season. He had 72 yards on 26 carries in the Chippewas’ opener at Oklahoma State, a game in which they trailed by 30 points in the second quarter and turned to the passing game, with quarterback Daniel Richardson throwing for 424 yards in a 58-44 loss. 

A week later against South Alabama, Nichols carried 15 times for just 20 yards in another game in which the Chippewas fell behind by double digits in the second quarter and never caught up. 

“We got out-physicaled,” McElwain said of the 38-24 loss. “We got out-energyed. That’s not what this program has done [in the past].”

Central Michigan was eager to get its season turned around last week, and the matchup against Bucknell afforded them just such an opportunity. Nichols got back on track, too, finishing with 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

Now comes Penn State, though. No opposing rusher has come close to reaching 100 yards against PSU through three games. Purdue’s King Doerue has fared the best so far, with 57 yards on 15 carries. Last week, the Lions kept Auburn’s talented backfield trio in check, with Tank Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter and Damari Alston combining for 56 yards on 17 carries.

Central Michigan showed last year that it can compete against Power Five opponents. In addition to its bowl win over Washington State, it hung in there with Missouri, dropping a 34-24 decision on the road. 

But it can’t afford to keep falling way behind by halftime as it has done this year in its two games against FBS opponents. There’s only so much that a talented running back can do when you’re trailing by three or four touchdowns in the second quarter.