Penn State's Offense Scores Major Boost With Nicholas Singleton's Return

Penn State’s Offense Scores Major Boost With Nicholas Singleton’s Return

Posted by Admin January 13, 2025 Football

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Penn State football has secured another significant retention move for its 2025 roster, as running back Nicholas Singleton announced Monday that he will return to the Nittany Lions. Singleton, who is eligible to enter the 2025 NFL Draft, instead will play a final season with Penn State, joining quarterback Drew Allar in an offense that looks to return the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff.

Singleton finished the season with 1,099 yards rushing and a team-high 17 touchdowns during a third straight year in which he essentially shared carries with fellow running back Kaytron Allen, who also announced his return Monday. Singleton averaged 6.4 yards per carry and was the home-run threat of the team’s rushing offense. Singleton ranked second in the Big Ten in carries of 40+ yards and had three 100-yard games, beginning the season with 233 yards vs. West Virginia and Kent State. Singleton scored five touchdowns in Penn State’s three playoff games, including three against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

Singleton achieved those numbers despite missing one game with an injury and playing hurt through several games. His return had been an internal conversation at Penn State for much of the season’s second half. Before the Orange Bowl, Penn State coach James Franklin described those discussions as ongoing. Singleton, who was the Gatorade National Player of the Year at Governor Mifflin High School, chose not to discuss his future plans during Penn State’s playoff run.

“Obviously we’d love him back,” Franklin said before the Orange Bowl. “But if he decides to come out, we’ll fight like heck to get him drafted as high as possible.”

Singleton’s return underscores Penn State’s ability to capitalize on revenue sharing that is coming to college football in 2025. Penn State has made roster retention a prioirity of its NIL strategy and has extended that to its future revenue-sharing budget. Penn State so far has been able to retain Allar, defensive tackle Zane Durant and safety Zakee Wheatley for its 2025 roster. The Nittany Lions also brought back safety King Mack, who played for the team in 2023 before transferring to Alabama last season. Last summer, Franklin said that Penn State would be positioned well to fund football through its revenue-sharing plan.

“Although we’ve got a pretty good idea of where this is all going big-picture, how it’s going to play out on all these different campuses is going to be very different,” Franklin said. “Some schools won’t be able to meet the threshold. They won’t have the revenue to be able to do it. I think we’ll be a program that will.”

Allen led Penn State in carries (220) and rushing yards (1,108) as the two became the first Penn State backs to rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Both Singleton and Allen, part of the 2022 recruiting class, have talked positively about the position share and its ability to protect their long-term health.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said after the Fiesta Bowl. “To see two kids be so unselfish in this day and age stay here, play with each other and play for each other — as a coach I may not ever see this again, especially in this climate we’re in. So I’m going to try to always cherish these moments with these guys.”

Before the Orange Bowl, Franklin recalled recruiting Singleton out of Governor Mifflin High School and the tense moments he felt when Singleton visited other programs, including Notre Dame. “Early on we were, I thought, in a really good place, and then he went on some visits and almost lost him,” Franklin said.

Now, Penn State will have Singleton for a fourth season.

“To me, he’s a Penn State guy in terms of just substance, right, and has maximized his career,” Franklin said before the Orange Bowl. “I think he’s trying to decide what he’s going to do, him and his family. Been a ton of conversations there. He’s been awesome. I think him and Kaytron have developed a really good relationship but sometimes that’s not always the case. They could be adversarial. They have been really good friends both on and off the field. I think they are complementary pieces to each other. He’s doing great. He’s thriving.”