It was a wild week in terms of speculation regarding Penn State star running back Nick Singleton.
From Monday-early Wednesday evening, everything was normal.
Singleton didn’t suffer an apparent injury in last Saturday’s 21-7 win over Illinois and was even one of the players Penn State selected to speak with media via Zoom during the week leading up to the UCLA game.
Then, Wednesday evening, when Penn State had its weekly media viewing window, Singleton was nowhere to be seen. Then, the questions started, and as expected, Coach James Franklin and RB coach Ja’Juan Seider revealed nothing when asked about Singleton’s status. By Friday night, it looked like Singleton would be good to go per a report by Matt Zenitz of 247Sports.
Coach James Franklin expected Singleton to play, too, right until the last minute.
“I thought we’d have him Thursday,” he said in his postgame presser. “I thought we’d have him Friday, I thought we’d have him (Saturday). I didn’t find out until after warmups … (it) literally was a last-minute deal.”
“I thought we’d have him Thursday. I thought we’d have him Friday. I thought we’d have him today.”
Penn State HC James Franklin was asked about RB Nick Singleton not being in the lineup today. He said it was a last-minute decision. pic.twitter.com/ZnkXyRqOvp
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) October 5, 2024
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Singleton is one of Penn State’s best players.
Through four games, Singleton’s rushed for 408 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. He’s been effective in the passing game, catching six balls for 82 yards and two scores, and, as we saw Saturday night.
This led to more or a workload for Kaytorn Allen (21 carries, 78 yards, TD) and true freshman Quinton Martin, who became the team’s RB2 for the day.
Not having Singleton hurt but Franklin was pleased with the offense adjusted in the team’s 27-11 win.
“Obviously, not having a guy like Nick Singleton is significant,” Franklin said, “but it was a tremendous opportunity for Kaytron to get a few more touches. It was also a great opportunity to get Quinton in there. Really, really good opportunity for those guys, and I think we handled it well.”
