Penn State
dazzling their teammates and coaches in their first Penn State spring practice, which concludes with Saturday’s Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium.
The 6-0, 219-pound Singleton owns Berks County career records with 6,326 rushing yards and 116 touchdowns. He rushed for 2,059 yards last season, scored 44 touchdowns and led the Mustangs (10-1) to the Berks Football League Section 1 title and the District 3 Class 5A final.
Singleton was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and the Maxwell Football Club’s National Offensive Player of the Year, among many awards.
The 5-11, 216-pound Allen grew up in Norfolk, Va. before playing three seasons at IMG Academy in Florida, where he rushed for more than 3,000 yards and scored more than 50 touchdowns.
“They added a lot of competition,” said Keyvone Lee, who led Penn State in rushing the last two seasons. “They came in hungry and ready to work. They’ve been getting better and making us better.
“Even when I have to sit down and teach them the offense and the schemes, I’m learning myself from teaching them. I can’t wait to see what they do in the fall. We’re gonna be good.”
That wasn’t the case last year when the Nittany Lions
struggled mightily to run the ball. They averaged 3.21 yards per carry and 107.8 yards per game, which ranked 118th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
They rushed for just 11 touchdowns, tied for the fewest in school history since records have been kept. They went without a 100-yard rusher for the first time since 1978.
Penn State coach James Franklin made it clear immediately after last season and this spring that he wants to see the Lions commit more to the run, which is music to Lee’s ears.
“Hearing that from the head coach who has control over everything just gets me
fired up and gets all of us in the running back room, tight ends and even the receivers motivated,” Lee said Tuesday. “I can’t wait to see what we’re gonna do.”
According to Lee, the Lions have been running the ball in many different down-and-distance situations and have been effective despite having thin depth on the offensive line.
“We’re doing it to work on it and to set an attitude,” he said. “Even (to) build confidence in the running game to see if we can run the ball on fourth-and-2 or on third-and-long. There’s a lot of confidence in the run game. I’m liking it.”
Lee is one of three returning veterans at running back, along with Devyn Ford and Caziah Holmes. Ford carried 14 times for 61 yards last season, and Holmes ran five times for 27 yards.
Lee rushed 108 times for 530 yards and two scores, including five carries for 41 yards in the Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas.
Lee’s yards were the fewest by a Penn State leading rusher in a full season since Austin Scott had 436 as a freshman in 2003.
“This year is gonna be the year,” Lee said. “We have a lot to prove and I can’t wait to prove the doubters wrong. I don’t like to bring up last year. It hurt me a little bit when we didn’t rush over 100 yards. We got a lot to prove. We gotta let them know that we’re back. We’re gonna get this done.”
The presence of Singleton and Allen makes him even more confident.
“Those two guys are going to make it ultra-competitive in that room,” offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said earlier this spring. “They’re very explosive. What’s impressive to me is they came out of high school and physically they’re at a stage where they can do all things.
“They can play on all downs because of their physical strength and maturity. We just have to get them squared away mentally from a (pass) protection standpoint and assignment standpoint. But they’re doing a hell of a job.”