The Next Iteration of Penn State's Nicholas Singleton Has Arrived

The running back is still fast, but also is a more patient and mature runner, in Year 3 with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field. / Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Through just two games this season, Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton already has racked up 233 rushing yards with back-to-back 100-yard performances. By comparison, Singleton needed five games to reach that mark in 2023 and didn’t top 100 until the regular-season finale against Michigan State.

The eye test shows improvement as well. Singleton, among the country's most explosive backs as a freshman in 2022, has returned to the top of the list. He's tied for the lead nationally in carries of 40-plus yards with three. Singleton did not have a carry over 30 yards last season. So what's different?

“It’s just running different,” Singleton said after Penn State’s win over Bowling Green last week. “Being more patient, obviously receiving the ball and just trying to be a complete back from last year.”

But what else is behind Singleton’s leap between his sophomore and junior seasons? Is it the impact of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, his natural development, or a combination of those factors? Penn State center Nick Dawkins said after Week 2 that he “wouldn’t say anything is different” with Singleton, but the results this season seem to indicate otherwise. 

Nick was fast two years ago, he was fast last year and he’s fast right now.

- Chuck Losey, Penn State strength coach

Benefitting from a new offense

It’s fair to say Singleton’s improved running in 2024 is a partial product of Kotelnicki’s offensive schemes. Singleton has said he loves the way Kotelnicki deploys the running backs and uses a variety of players in the offense. “You can really tell a difference from last year to this year,” Singleton said after the Bowling Green game.

Singleton’s success also followed the 2023 firing of former coordinator Mike Yurcich. Singleton closed last season with 383 total yards in three games under interim coordinators Ja’Juan Seider (his position coach) and tight ends coach Ty Howle. Singleton topped 100 just once in the first 10 games.

“[Kotelnicki’s] scheme kind of opens up a different variety of [Singleton’s] game,” Dawkins said. “I wouldn’t say he’s different at all. I would just say the scheme changed a little bit and kind of spread some more opportunities for him.” 

While Singleton still amassed 1,060 yards from scrimmage last season, he was slightly held back by a lack of offensive creativity and a scheme that often asked him to run inside. The lack of a downfield passing game might have prevented Singleton from reaching his full potential as well.

Under Kotelnicki, the offensive balance has shifted. The Nittany Lions still lean on the run, but quarterback Drew Allar and the passing game have been more dangerous and efficient, in turn creating more lanes for Singleton. Now unable to stack the box vs. Penn State so often, defenses have given the Nittany Lions’ running backs a little more breathing room. As Singleton said after running for 119 yards against Bowling Green, “safeties backing up in the box helps us in the run game.”

“We’ve got options,” Dawkins said. “We’ve got all kinds of distractions, and I think that allows for [Singleton] to hit, as you saw in the touchdown, he hit the backside and that was the inside zone. So it kind of just opens up different avenues.”

A perfect example of those “avenues” came against the Falcons. In the fourth quarter, Singleton initially ran into a pile, paused, bounced outside to find a massive hole and sprinted for a late-game score. Further, Singleton has expanded his role in the passing game. He made a terrific catch on a 14-yard fastball Allar threw over the middle for a third-quarter touchdown against Bowling Green. 

“I feel like I’ve grown a long way, especially obviously you’ve seen me catching the ball and scoring," Singleton said. "It’s just doing stuff in the offseason, working with the receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, just doing different routes to elevate my game, so big credit to them for sure.”

HE IS GONE!!! 💨

Nick Singleton breaks away and gets the TD for @PennStateFball! pic.twitter.com/yZMkgFPbhj

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 7, 2024

Singleton’s physical improvements

At Penn State’s Lift for Life event in June, Singleton said that he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds this offseason, a time that would have tied him for the top spot among running backs at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. Kotelnicki’s offense has helped, but that isn’t the only reason Singleton is averaging 9 yards per carry and seemingly has the best burst of his college career. Coaches cite his offseason work ethic.

Singleton’s quickened on-field step hasn’t resulted from something he changed. On the contrary, Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey said, it’s because Singleton is so consistent with his training. Even at 226 pounds, 18 more than when he arrived as a freshman in 2022, Singleton continues to improve his speed. 

“Nick is fast,” Losey said. “Nick was fast two years ago, he was fast last year and he’s fast right now. We talk about that consistency thing. … When it comes to running fast and being really consistent about it, people start to waver. Nick doesn’t waver. He runs right through it. It’s very, very important to him to chip away at that hundredth of a second, that tenth of a second. Nothing’s changed with Nick. He continues to attack everything the way that Nick Singleton does.”

And how does Singleton do that? By being one of Penn State’s top performers in the weight room.  

“The dude is a model for all of our guys who come through the program,” Losey said. “We can throw pretty much any type of training protocol at him and he works his butt off at it and he adapts.”

Moving up the ranks

Singleton may not quite be a Saquon Barkley-level prospect yet, but if he continues running like he has through two games, he’s poised to be an early round choice in April’s NFL Draft. In July, Pro Football Network wrote that Singleton was grading as a “fringe top-100 prospect.” His mprovements since then are clear.

Singleton has become more complete, as has his running mate, Kaytron Allen. The duo continues to thrive together using their complementary skills, and the early results for Penn State’s running back room in 2024 speak volumes. Both Singleton and Allen broke 100 rushing yards vs. Bowling Green. Both have caught touchdown passes as well, with Allen scoring against West Virginia.

“We think we’ve got two backs that are two of the better backs in the country,” Penn State coach James Franklin said.

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Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_    or Instagram @dmadersports.