'Next year they're going to go crazy.' Why these Penn State football stars stick together

ATLANTA — They are Penn State football running backs and roommates.

An odd couple, so to speak, in this college football world of easy transfers and big-money NIL deals and social media expectations and projections.

Do Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen truly own the patience to become the very best they can be — together?

So far, they do, whether it be preparing for Saturday's Peach Bowl against Ole Miss or a possible penultimate 2024. It will be their third season sharing the second-most dynamic position on the football field.

“It’s like Thing One and Thing Two, they’re always together, they're always laughing," said senior offensive lineman Caedan Wallace. "Seeing what they do on the field motivates the o-line to go harder.

“I think next year they’re going to go crazy and really tie everything together."

Of course, that was the general expectation for this past regular season. And it really didn't work out that way at all — at least not in terms of long, game-breaking runs, 100-yard days and gaudy statistics.

Actually, it was quite the opposite in the overall feel of the Penn State running game and, in particular, for big-play Singleton.

And yet there they were Wednesday in the downtown Westin Hotel before another Peach Bowl practice, touting their friendship, how they make each other better — and how much they learned through a sometimes-frustrating 2023.

How, if their breakout performance against Michigan State a month ago was a freeing end to this regular season, this Peach Bowl against the Rebels can be the springboard into much more.

“We can do anything we want if we just put our minds to it," Singleton said resolutely, without a smile. "We can be the best backfield in the nation.

"I know Kaytron feels that way, coach Seider feels that way, the whole team feels that way. Just take it one day at a time making that work."

No matter that Singleton's rushing numbers plummeted from his sensational rookie season (1,061 yards, 6.8 per carry, 12 touchdowns) to his grinding, ordinary-looking 2023 season (702 yards, 4.3 per carry, 8 TDs).

No matter that Allen needed a career-best day at Michigan State to even approach his own impressive rookie production (867 yards, 5.2 per carry, 10 TDs).

In football reality, they were much better than those declining numbers suggested, said Ja'Juan Seider, their position coach and half of the team's interim offensive coordinator combination for Saturday's game.

That they both grew up during their running struggles in ways that will boost next season.

Seider explained how opponents adjusted in defending Singleton and Allen this year, much like Major League Baseball pitchers adjust to hot rookie hitters and second and third times around.

Seider talked of how Penn State's drop in receiver production and big-play passing closed options on his running backs, too.

He explained how Penn State's coaching could have been better. For stretches of this past season, Singleton and Allen seemed to disappear from the game plan — no more evident than when they barely touched the ball in the second half of a discouraging defeat at Ohio State.

Possible big lift for PSU: Can 'Mr. Consistent' lift up Penn State football in the Peach Bowl? Why Tre Wallace is key

On the rise: Kalen King in the Peach Bowl? These young defenders may emerge for Penn State football

"Early in the year we got impatient as coaches because you hear it (from fans and media). You try to force things, you try to become more explosive. (But) if you watched us the last few weeks, we sequenced things better. If a kid gets six yards, give it to him again because something's good going on.

“These two kids are elite players at this position and the more they touch the ball the better it’s going to be for Penn State and for the kids."

Seider said he's preached to them the positives of their development even while their numbers dropped — how they've improved as receivers, blockers and in finishing runs.

"When you'd look every week, they were grading out 98 percent, 99 percent throughout the games. So to me, as a coach, I saw improvements. It’s hard for people to understand that unless you’re in that room every day. I just continue to tell them to trust your training, trust the reps throughout the week and then at the end of the day, trust your instincts."

Because, he said, they remain two of the best running backs he's coached in his 16 years.

Even as they rotate every couple of offensive series. Actually, because of that, he said.

"That’s the scary part. You take one out and put the next one in, it doesn’t change," Seider said. "Where most teams you bring one in, take the other one out, it’s a big drop-off. The next guy comes in (here), you better buckle up even more."

Penn State football: A better Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton in 2024

Allen said he'll wait until after the Peach Bowl to begin reviewing and dissecting his game film from this season to help him improve for the next.

He and Singleton know the basics already, though. How they will be better prepared for defenses overloading the line of scrimmage to stop them.

How they will be more seasoned on making defenders miss in tight confines. How they expect to work with the ball more often in open space against Ole Miss and then next season, under the direction of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

They doubled down this week on how sticking together will help them individually, eventually so.

“We love to compete, man," Singleton said. "And you know, it just takes the weight off each other, gives us rest.

“A good roommate, he's my dog, you hear me?" Allen said with a smile.

"We’re always trying to help each other get better, that’s all that matters," he said, continuing on. "It’s been like that since we first got here. Just always trying to push each other … trying to make each other great.

"It’s all about trying to make each other great and help each other out."

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football: Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen stick together