For Penn State RB coach Stan Drayton, RB Nick Singleton isn’t far away from being the guy we saw for most of last season.
“He is on track,” Drayton told reporters via Zoom late Thursday morning. “He really is. He’s getting ready to explode.”
Penn State fans certainly will love hearing that.
It’s not that Singleton’s had a bad senior season so far. Through three games, No. 10 has run for 179 yards and a team-leading five touchdowns on 41 carries (4.4 YPC).
But for someone who averaged almost seven yards per carry last season, that’s underwhelming.
For a guy who once ran for an 87-yard touchdown in the Rose Bowl, it’s also underwhelming that his biggest gain of the season has been just 16 yards.
Drayton, Singleton and head coach James Franklin all agree that overthinking has been an issue.
DON’T THINK TOO MUCH
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
There’s a pivotal scene in the 1993 classic “The Sandlot” where Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez tells Scotty Smalls:
“Man, this is baseball, you’ve gotta stop thinking. Just have fun. If you were having fun.”
Of course, playing football at Penn State is a little different than playing baseball as a pre-teen, but there’s a theme here.
Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez wanted Scotty Smalls to cut it loose.
James Franklin wants Singleton to do the same.
“I think he was thinking too much, and I think he’s getting coached in some areas that I think are going to be important for his growth,” Franklin said in his Monday presser two days after the team beat Florida International. “I see him getting better.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Singleton felt better about his performance the next week when Penn State beat Villanova.
“In this game (20 carries, 84 yards, 2 TD), I just trusted my instincts,” Singleton said afterward.
Drayton described Singleton as a “really good football player who right now is maybe processing things a little bit too much, maybe overthinking things a little bit too much.”
“We really did attack this offseason with throwing more on his plate from a learning standpoint in terms of processing defenses, being able to anticipate things while playing full speed, and that takes a little bit of time,” Drayton said.
“It is very, very normal when you go from playing on pure instincts and understanding what’s going on, trying to anticipate things before they happen. I think that’s what we saw in Nick, even though we still have some really good production from him. But I think he’s thinking a little bit too much early in the season, and I think it’s coming to a point where he’s ready to cut it loose.”
HE HAS NOTHING TO PROVE
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Nick Singleton
Singleton doesn’t have anything left to prove as a college back.
He’s been a key part of Penn State’s offense since his true freshman season of 2022, and could have declared for the draft after last season.
If Singleton were to quit playing college football right now, he’d be ninth on the school’s all-time rushing list.
So for Drayton, there’s plenty of video evidence out there to help Singleton believe in himself.
“I understand what I put on his plate in the offseason,” he said. “I do understand the progression of development when you’re learning something new and trying to put it into execution full-speed. So, I think he’s right on track. I really do. It’s just a matter of us practicing it enough to where he can just cut it loose in a game situation. I’m starting to see less and less processing in practice, which means it’s getting to instincts now. You know what I mean? All the things that we were taught that we taught him in the offseason are starting to get to his instincts. They’re becoming his instincts. So, I just think it’s a matter of him just feeling confident. There’s plenty of film to validate and give him plenty of reason to be confident.
Drayton said Singleton has been practicing well since the bye week, and both coach and player understand that he needs to “cut it loose.”
“I think he’s ready,” Drayton said. “It’s just a matter of time.”
What better time than Saturday’s showdown with No. 6 Oregon at Beaver Stadium?
