Penn State’s Nick Singleton sets lofty goals for senior season (2025)

STATE COLLEGE – Nick Singleton returned to Penn State because he wants it all.

He’s aware that he’s on track to become the Nittany Lions’ all-time leader in rushing yards, all-purpose yards and touchdowns.

He recently walked the halls of Lasch Building with his parents and told them he wants to see his photo on the wall there as one of Penn State’s first-team All-Americans.

When someone asked him Tuesday night if winning the Heisman Trophy was in the back of his mind, he didn’t sidestep the question.

“It definitely is, you know,” Singleton said. “It’s a hard task, but I’m looking forward to it. You always look up to the Heisman. You watch it on TV, seeing all the great, great players. So you kind of dream about it. You just gotta keep working to make it a reality.”

As Penn State continues spring practice, he’s working on being more creative in the open field and making more safeties miss. It’s something that Penn State coach James Franklin discussed with him when he decided to come back.

“He’s been a guy who’s extremely strong, extremely explosive and extremely fast,” Franklin said Tuesday night. “But we want to work on those open-field runs so he can get more 80-yard, 90-yard runs, which we think he’s capable of getting.

“It’s cutting back, hurdling, setting runs up and setting defenders up.”

Penn State’s Kaytron Allen has 2,877 career rushing yards, including 1,108 last season. (Rick Scuteri – The Associated Press)

Singleton, the former Gov. Mifflin star, can take a few cues from watching former Penn State star Saquon Barkley, who’s still making spectacular runs in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Last season, Singleton rushed for 1,099 yards and joined Barkley, Evan Royster, Tony Hunt, Curtis Enis, Ki-Jana Carter, Curt Warner and John Cappelletti as the only Lions backs with multiple 1,000-yard seasons.

Barkley’s school records for rushing TDs (43), overall TDs (53) and all-purpose yards (5,538) are on his radar. He also could break Royster’s record for rushing yards (3,932). With 2,912 in his first three seasons, Singleton needs 1,021 to own it.

“That’s definitely doable,” he said.

With 2,877 yards, Kaytron Allen, Singleton’s backfield mate and roommate, also could smash Royster’s record and end up as Penn State’s career leader.

The two of them are the second set of Lions teammates to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. The other pair? Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris.

Singleton and Allen announced their decisions to return to Penn State within hours shortly after the Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

“We tried to give each other space after the game to deal with that (making the decision),” Singleton said. “We decided we wanted to come back and finish our last year together. It was a good feeling.”

Those decisions, along with those of quarterback Drew Allar, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, defensive tackle Zane Durant and safety Zakee Wheatley, stamped the Lions as leading contenders for the Big Ten and national titles.

Allen finished with a team-high 1,108 yards last season, including 410 in the final four games against Oregon, SMU, Boise State and Notre Dame. He was not available for interviews Tuesday night.

“Fat (Allen) has really improved,” Franklin said. “We’ve talked about how he’s never had an offseason since he’s been here. He looks faster. He looks more explosive. That’s going to be big for him.”

They’ve both embraced new assistant coach Stan Drayton, the former Temple head coach who has guided such running backs as Brian Westbrook at Villanova, Ezekiel Elliott and Carlos Hyde at Ohio State and Bijan Robinson at Texas

“He’s helped me with the individual stuff,” Singleton said. “The drills we’re doing are on the second and third level, making people miss. The individual drills seem more intense. He told us when he got here that he’s going to push us.”

Singleton hopes Drayton can help him become a first-round draft pick, the chief reason why he came back.

“It really wasn’t about the money,” he said, referring to his NIL and other income. “The money would have been there either way. That’s the one thing I talked to my parents about.

“I’m not coming back for the money. I’m coming back to improve stuff before I enter the draft.”