Penn State puts 2 on Maxwell Award watch list
A pair of Penn State football juniors are on the Maxwell Award preseason watch list. Eighty players from across college football are up for the honor, which will go to the nation’s best player on offense. Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar and running back Nicholas Singleton both made the list. Head coach James Franklin’s team is one of just 15 to have at least two players make the early group of candidates.
“The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert “Tiny” Maxwell who was a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official,” the Maxwell Football Club wrote in a news release.
Larry Johnson was the last Penn State player to win the honor. The running back did so back in 2002. Former Nittany Lions quarterback Kerry Collins in 1994. Eight former PSU players have won the award since it was first given out in 1937.
The Maxwell Award watch list is the first of many that will come out over the next few weeks.
Allar, Singleton ready for big third season at Penn State
It goes without saying that Penn State will go as far as Allar and Singleton can take them. They won’t be asked to win games alone, of course. But, at least on offense, they are the two biggest pieces of the puzzle for first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
“It would definitely make a lot of things different if we’re more explosive than we were last year,” Allar todl BWI earlier this offseason. “And honestly, explosive plays are obviously the goal, but sometimes it’s just like a hitch that last year was maybe five yards and this year it’s better ball location and the receivers tight turn and get up the field. An 8 or 9 yard gain and maybe even a first down. And that’s keeping us ahead of the sticks and allowing Coach K to be more aggressive to create more opportunities for us to call those shots and be more explosive down the field in the run game.
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“It’s all those little things that add up to those explosive plays maybe that people don’t even see on a normal basis. Like if the tackle gets a second longer on his block, it allows Nick and Fat to break one more arm tackle. So it’s a lot of those things that kind of add up at the end of the day. But as long as we’re efficient and we’re being explosive and taking care of the ball, I think those things will take care of themselves.”
As for Singleton, he’s eager to be part of Kotelnicki’s attack.
“It’s motivation for sure,” Singleton said. “I know there’s a lot of doubters still with me and Fat Man and the whole running back room. But, we just have to keep our heads down and keep working.”
