Penn State could be returning its top running back at USC on Saturday. James Franklin said on Monday that the Nittany Lions “anticipate” leading rusher Nick Singleton to return to action in Los Angeles. Singleton was sidelined with an injury against UCLA this past weekend, but is “very confident,” as is Franklin, that he’ll “be ready to go” against the Trojans.
“He was very close to going last week. So as long as we don’t have any setbacks this week, I would anticipate him going, and I also would anticipate him practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Franklin said. “But we’ll see how this whole thing plays out. We’re very, very confident.”
Singleton rushed for a team-high 408 yards and scored five total touchdowns in the Nittany Lions’ first four games of the year. Singleton’s injury, the specifics of which haven’t been disclosed, came after a physically dominant performance against Illinois when he took 16 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Franklin said Singleton didn’t practice on either Tuesday or Wednesday following the win over the Fighting Illini, and was limited on Thursday and Friday. As he stated postgame on Saturday, Franklin said he thought Singleton, who dressed and warmed up prior to kickoff, was going to play.
Franklin learned after warmups, from running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and head trainer Andy Mutnan, that Singleton wouldn’t play.
“He wasn’t 100% but, again, we thought he was going to go,” Franklin said.
In Singleton’s absence, the Nittany Lions tallied a season-low 85 rushing yards. It was Kaytron Allen who led the rushing attack in Singleton’s absence, and took 21 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. Allen shared snaps with true freshman Quinton Martin Jr., who rushed just once but caught three receptions for 18 yards and returned a kickoff for 27 yards in the victory.
“It definitely felt weird not having my dog out there,” Allen said postgame. … “I know he was hurt that he couldn’t play. I know how much it means to him, how much he loves football.”
