Nicholas Singleton says health ‘feels like 100%’ ahead of conference title game

After battling injuries throughout most of the fall, Nicholas Singleton is back to full strength at the most critical juncture of the 2024 season. The standout junior running back says he has recovered from his midseason health issues as Penn State football prepares to battle No. 1 Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday.

“I’d say I feel like 100%. Throughout the whole [last few] weeks, I’ve been feeling good,” Singleton said on Monday. “The way I’ve been going out, just staying in throughout the whole game. I just feel like everything is good.

“You got to give a shout-out to the training room; [I’ve] been in there all the time. They’ve been really helpful for me in getting my body right. So, I feel good.”

Singleton’s lingering injury issues began before the midway point of the season when he missed the Nittany Lions’ matchup with UCLA. He totaled 422 all-purpose yards on 58 touches with two receiving touchdowns between the October 5 matchup and the November 9 win over Washington, where he exited early in the second half.

© Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

Returning to form since then, Nicholas Singleton has 330 all-purpose yards on 45 touches over the last three games. After not scoring a rushing touchdown since September, the junior tailback has found the end zone in three consecutive weeks, including twice last Saturday against Maryland.

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“The reality is he’s healthy again,” James Franklin said last week. “You guys know what a healthy Nick Singleton looks like. He wasn’t that. But I also think that is a credit to Nick, and I also think that’s part of the maturation process of a football player.

“When you play in the Big Ten, and you play in the Big Ten that’s not playing 10 games anymore or 11 games, talking about 12 games and the possibility of 17, the reality is in major college football or the NFL, there are very few people that are going to be 100% all year long.

“That’s not the reality of college football. So you play with the things that you can play with and manage. The doctors and the trainers will step in when you can’t. Nick went out there and played the best he could under the circumstances, but he was not 100%.”

Singleton and the Nittany Lions offense will face a Ducks defense that ranks in the top 10 nationally in yards and points allowed per game. The Oregon rushing defense comes into conference championship weekend ranked No. 22 in the country, allowing 112 yards per contest.

Penn State football and Oregon will kick off from Indianapolis in the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night at 8 p.m. on CBS.

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