Penn State’s Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen are best backfield duo in the country

Not long after he was hired as Penn State’s running backs coach, Stan Drayton wasn’t ready to answer James Franklin’s question.

It was in the middle of winter conditioning workouts, and Drayton’s new boss asked if Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen were the best pair of backs that he had seen in his lengthy coaching career.

“I told him I didn’t know and I think he got mad at me,” Drayton said. “I hadn’t seen them enough.”

After coaching them in spring practice, now he knows.

“These guys are as talented a combination as I’ve ever been around,” Drayton said. “There’s no question about it.”

That’s high praise coming from someone who coached Ezekiel Elliott and Carlos Hyde at Ohio State and Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson at Texas.

Penn State running back Kaytron Allen on his relationship with Nick Singleton: “It’s bigger than football. He always has my back and I always have his back.” (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Singleton and Allen are considered the best backfield duo in the country this season. They both have nearly 3,000 rushing yards after becoming Penn State’s first set of backs to top 1,000 in the same season.

They’re the second pair of Nittany Lions classmates to top 2,000 career yards. Lydell Mitchell, who’s in the College Football Hall of Fame, and Franco Harris, who’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, were the first more than 50 years ago.

They’ve shared the backfield load for the last three seasons. Roommates since their sophomore year, they contend there’s never been tension between them despite playing the same position, competing fiercely and seeking the same glory.

“The way we talk to each other and support each other, it’s bigger than football,” Allen said. “He always has my back and I always have his back. We’re competing, but we don’t look at it that way. If you look at it like that, it takes away from our brotherhood.

“We’ve never had an argument. People try to pit us against each other, but it’s never that. We’re always tight and locked in.”

They want the same things: to help Penn State win a national championship, to see their photographs displayed on the All-American wall at Lasch Building and to become the school’s all-time leading rusher. It’s possible that both will pass Evan Royster.

“We really haven’t talked about it,” Singleton said. “We’re just trying to make each other better. We don’t get jealous of each other. We always look out for each other. When each of us scores, we celebrate with each other. We want to be good friends and good teammates to each other.”

Their journeys to Penn State were different. Singleton was raised in Shillington and became a phenom at Gov. Mifflin High School. He set Berks County career records for yards and touchdowns, developed into a five-star recruit and became the first Gatorade National High School Player of the Year to commit to the Lions.

Allen was raised in a troubled neighborhood in Norfolk Va., before he enrolled at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., after his freshman year at Norview High School. He became a star at IMG, helped win a national title and was rated a four-star prospect before he committed to Penn State 10 days after Singleton.

“They both believed they were the guy when they committed,” said former Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, who’s now at Notre Dame. “Kaytron had no ill toward Nick; he thought he was gonna come in and be the best guy. Nick had no ill will toward Kaytron; he thought he was the best guy.”

They enrolled in January 2022 and made an impact during spring practice, even though the Lions had three veteran backs ahead of them: Devyn Ford, Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee. All three transferred within a year.

“They made their presence felt from day one,” Seider said. “Our defensive guys thought twice about how to tackle these guys because of how physical and violent they ran. They gave our offense an identity and a toughness. That’s when I knew these guys were gonna be special.”

With Singleton and Allen carrying the load, Penn State made a drastic improvement in its ground game, going from 107.8 yards per game to 181.1. They helped the Lions go 11-2, including a decisive win over Utah in the Rose Bowl.

That afternoon in Pasadena, they combined for three touchdowns, including Singleton’s 87-yard burst that capped his first 1,000-yard season.

Allen maintained his production as a sophomore, but Singleton’s numbers dipped. Some observers wondered if he was injured or had somehow lost some of his blazing speed. He still averaged more than 100 all-purpose yards per game, but he was eager to make a splash in 2024.

They both did, helping Penn State lead the Big Ten in rushing. Allen had a team-high 1,108 yards, 9 more than his roommate. Singleton finished in the top 20 nationally in yards per carry (6.39) and all-purpose yards (120.3).

They were especially effective in the postseason, combining to rush for 776 yards and eight touchdowns and average 6.9 per carry against Oregon, SMU, Boise State and Notre Dame.

“They’re really good, complementary pieces,” Franklin said during the Lions’ postseason run. “I know the expression is probably overused, but ‘thunder and lightning’ is a good description of those guys. Nick has the ability to go the distance with his speed. Kaytron is a violent, physical runner.”

Singleton ran for 84 yards and Allen for 82 in the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, but the Lions lost 27-24 on a last-minute field goal. The defeat in the College Football Playoff semifinal was bitter but had a silver lining.

Four days later, Singleton, Allen and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton announced they would stay at Penn State for their senior years. Quarterback Drew Allar and five other draft-eligible teammates also decided to come back with their sights set on the national title.

“We wanted to stay and finish what we started,” Singleton said. “We didn’t like how our season ended. We didn’t want to see our careers end like that. We wanted to come back and win a championship.”

Less than a month later, Singleton and Allen were shaken when news broke that Seider was leaving Penn State for Notre Dame. They worried about who would replace him.

Within days, Drayton, who had spent the last three seasons as head coach at Temple, was announced as Seider’s replacement. He has an impressive history of coaching running backs in college and the NFL.

Drayton was direct with Singleton and Allen in their first meeting and pushed them during spring practice.

“They had a lot of things to work on,” Drayton said. “I know they’ve had a lot of production here, but they still have a lot of weaknesses. I can say they’ve been very intentional about their approach to practice.”

Allen has dropped some weight and is feeling “way more explosive. It’s the best I’ve ever felt here.” Even though he has the speed of a sprinter, Singleton has struggled to make safeties miss when he gets into the secondary. That’s why he welcomed Drayton’s instruction.

“He’s helped me with the individual stuff,” Singleton said. “The drills we’re doing are on the second and third level, helping me make people miss.”

This season they’ll run behind a talented offensive line that returns four starters. With tight end Tyler Warren off to the NFL, they’ll be Penn State’s leading playmakers on offense.

“We have to get our best players on the field,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “The more we can use our running backs in different ways helps with that. It’s a big part of what we did in the spring.”

Allen ranks 11th in Penn State history with 2,877 rushing yards, within striking distance of Royster’s 3,932. Singleton is 10th with 2,912 and has a chance to break two other records, which are owned by Saquon Barkley.

Singleton has 41 touchdowns and 4,673 all-purpose yards, trailing Barkley by 12 TDs and 865 yards.

“I want to be the best at my position and the best (player) in the country,” Singleton said. “Everybody talks about the highest awards and those accolades. That comes with working out and getting better with the little stuff. You always want to be the best in whatever you do.”

Above all else, he and Allen want to be remembered as champions who helped Penn State end its 39-year national title drought. They’ve dreamed about becoming first-round draft picks and of being first-team All-Americans anytime they walk down that hall with those photos inside Lasch Building.

“You walk by them so much,” Allen said. “It makes me so mad that I’m not on that wall. It just pushes me every day to be great, to make sure I’m doing all the little things. I need to be on that wall.”

Drayton wants them to have a professional mindset, which includes arriving early to Lasch Building, taking care of their bodies, being vocal leaders with younger backs and showing eagerness to learn. He believes they can be even better.

“I’m going to get those guys involved in the game plan so that they have a firm understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively every single week,” he said. “It’s a tall task I’m going to ask of these guys. I’m not sure they know exactly what to expect. We’re definitely going to turn the heat up on those two guys. They’re going to be coached the hardest.”