Penn State football has no questions about who will be handling the bulk of the workload on the ground when the Nittany Lions open the season against Nevada on Saturday afternoon. But behind star running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the competition to be next onto the field will bleed into the fall.
Speaking to the media for the final time before Saturday’s opener, James Franklin explained that setbacks during training camp prevented the coaching staff from making a decision on the Nittany Lions’ third running back spot.
“We’re still going to discuss that. We’ve had injuries, inconsistency; so, I’m not sure how that’ll play out,” he said. “This week will play a big part in that. But if I had to guess, you’re going to see – if they have the opportunity – you’re going to see probably all three of them play.”
Will a true freshman RB factor into the rotation for Penn State this fall?
Despite coming to Happy Valley highly touted, the running backs room behind Singleton and Allen is generally unproven at the college level.
Following camp, the race has largely boiled down to a pair of redshirt freshmen – Quinton Martin and Corey Smith – and redshirt sophomore Cam Wallace, who is returning from a season-ending injury. All three appeared in limited action last fall.
This week, James Franklin said that the battle for Penn State's 3rd running back spot is "wide open."
Historically, the Blue and White have primarily stuck to a three-man rotation, at most, in the backfield. However, true freshmen Tikey Hayes and Jabree Wallace-Coleman have done enough since arriving on campus earlier this year to make Penn State reconsider that strategy.
“Tikey’s done some really good things that’s made him a part of the conversation,” Franklin said. “Jabree, when he’d been practicing, did some really nice things as well. But Jabree just got here in the summer; that makes things difficult. But really, those three guys and maybe a fourth [are being considered].”
Penn State will take on Nevada inside Beaver Stadium at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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