Iowa Hawkeyes facing a dynamic sophomore rushing duo from Penn State

CEDAR RAPIDS — Every time his Iowa football team gets ready to play Penn State, Hawkeyes Coach Kirk Ferentz begins his weekly press conference before the game giving homage to the Nittany Lions and their historically successful program.

He is a Pennsylvania native, you know.

And he inevitably also talks about the great talent PSU always has on its team, this year’s team being no exception. Just look at the running back position.

Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen share the backfield work for the Nittany Lions. They were both named to freshman all-America teams last season, Singleton selected the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year.

“We are blessed to be one of these programs that has two backs who are two of the better backs in all of college football,” said Penn State Coach James Franklin. “We recognize that, and we’re appreciative of that.”

Singleton rushed for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, a Penn State record. Allen had 867 yards and 10 TDs.

Add it up, and that’s 1,928 rushing yards and 22 scores from a pair of true freshmen. Singleton is a Shillington, Pa., native, Allen from Norfolk, Va.

“You can put those kids in any system and they would excel,” Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said. “If they were the only running back on a team, they would be the best in the country. They’re that good. The beauty of it is they feed off each other.

“In an era when you can easily be selfish and say, ‘Hey, I want the ball 30 times a game. I want to be the guy to start every game.’ They’re not (like that). They have each other’s backs. It’s a long time away, but it wouldn’t shock me if both of these guys are first-round draft picks.”

Of course, Penn State had NFL stars Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders on the same team at one time, so this isn’t exactly unprecedented territory. Barkley was “the man,” Sanders his understudy until Barkley went pro.

It’s a balancing act, without question, for Penn State with these two. They’re the same age, went to State College in the same recruiting class.

In this day and age of transfer portal-elujah, you don’t want to tick off one because he’ll take off for somewhere else.

“Those guys have bought into the idea that we have two starting tailbacks,” Franklin said. “We’ll see how that goes week to week based on preparation throughout the week. We’re going to play them both like starter’s reps.

“Sometimes in the heat of the battle, they want more opportunities and more touches, but I think big-picture-wise, they really get it. We’ll continue to play them both like starters. That’s how we view them.”

The duo seems to be OK with that.

“For me and Kaytron, we just have that 1-2 punch everybody’s been talking about,” Singleton said. “We just keep our heads down and keep working.”

“I’m grateful to be on the team, for real,” Allen said. “I’m grateful to be around my brothers and create relationships. I’m very grateful to be on the team and have this opportunity to play for Penn State.”

Allen had slightly more carries last season for the Rose Bowl-winning Nittany Lions. Through three games this season, all of which Penn State has won by 17 points or more, Allen has 42 rushes for 208 yards and two touchdowns, Singleton 36 carries for 154 yards and five TDs.

They complement each other, in that Allen is the more physical runner and Singleton the more elusive. What Penn State has seen defensively from opponents so far is keying on stopping them.

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You’d have to believe Iowa will try and do the same.

“I think it's been very obvious that over the first three weeks people are saying their defensive game plan is going to be based on stopping our running game,” Franklin said. “(We need) that combination of wide receivers, quarterbacks, tight ends, O-line protection, running back protection. That's all of it. So that we can show that we can consistently beat you in the passing game and cause real significant problems if you choose to play that way.”

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