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Penn State Football star running back Nick Singleton helped carry the Nittany Lions to their first ranked-win of the 2024 season Saturday, posting 94 rushing yards and a touchdown and adding 25 receiving yards through the air. However, four days removed from the matchup, Singleton’s availability is now up in the air, as Singleton was not seen at practice Wednesday night.
Following Penn State’s media viewing window, Penn State head coach James Franklin answered a question about Singleton’s status, casting further doubt about the star junior’s availability going forward.
Franklin noted that he does not have an update “at this stage” regarding Singleton’s availability.
James Franklin says we’re wasting a question by asking about RB Nick Singleton who was not spotted at the media viewing window tonight. Says there’s nothing to share at this point.
FWIW Singleton met with reporters yesterday on zoom.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 2, 2024
Singleton met with the media via zoom Tuesday but was not seen during the viewing window Wednesday night. On the 2024 season, Singleton has rushed for 408 yards and three touchdowns and added 74 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
On Tuesday, Singleton spoke highly of Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki‘s offense, noting “Everybody is buying into it since the spring. Everybody is having fun. You can tell everybody’s mood has been really different from last year, too. We’re being more explosive, obviously winning games. We just gotta keep going with it.”
Nick Singleton on Andy Kotelnicki offense:
“Everybody is buying into it since the spring. Everybody is having fun. You can tell everybody’s mood has been really different from last year, too. We’re being more explosive, obviously winning games. We just gotta keep going with it.” https://t.co/9oXz9O1gMQ
— Tyler Donohue (@TDsTake) October 1, 2024
Nick Singleton in Midst of Dominant Season for Penn State
Singleton, and fellow junior running back Kayton Allen, became only the second pair of teammates in Penn State history to rush for over 2,000 career yards Saturday. Singleton ranks 15th all-time at Penn State with 2,221 rushing yards over the past two and a third seasons at Penn State.
Singleton was a five-star recruit and the number one running back in the 2022 class by 247Sports and is draft eligible after this season.
If Singleton is not able to go Saturday against UCLA, Penn State will turn to true freshman Quinton Martin (after an injury to Cam Wallace against Kent State thrust Martin into the RB3 role). Singleton spoke highly of Martin Tuesday, noting “He’s been locked in. He’s willing to learn everything, man. [Always asking questions in the meeting rooms with (RB) Coach (JaJuan) Seider. Always doing extra time off the field too in the film room. He’s been really good.”
With Penn State an over four touchdown favorite this weekend, the Nittany Lions may not need Singleton to get past UCLA, however, the return of one of Penn State’s most dynamic playmakers will be vital for Penn State to reach their ultimate goal of a College Football Playoff berth this season.
MORE: Penn State Gets Key Players Back to Practice
More must-reads:
- Major changes coming to transfer portal, but challenges still remain
- Texas QB Arch Manning has perfect opportunity to quiet 'flop' talk
- The 'Most NFL QB two-rushing-TD games' quiz
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Texas QB Arch Manning has perfect opportunity to quiet 'flop' talk
The media overhyped Texas quarterback Arch Manning ahead of the 2025 season, and now the media is tearing him down. To be fair, the redshirt sophomore has struggled for much of this campaign, but so has the Longhorns program as a whole. On Tuesday, in a piece for The Athletic, Will Leitch wrote in part, "Arch Manning, so far, is a flop." That seems overly harsh and at least a little unfair. Arch Manning has an opportunity to change the narrative The annual Red River Rivalry game, which began in 1900, is coming up. It's an opportunity for Manning to show the college football world that he's a quality quarterback. This Saturday afternoon, No. 6 Oklahoma (5-0) will travel to Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas to face the Longhorns (3-2), a team that resided at No. 1 in the preseason AP Top-25 poll but dropped out of the poll altogether after a Week 6 road loss to Florida, 29-21. For as bad as this season has been for Texas to date, the Longhorns have two losses. They were both on the road by a combined 15 points to a desperate Gators squad and to Ohio State, which is the No. 1 team in the country. Plus, Manning's subpar play isn't the only reason that the Longhorns are 3-2 and need to rattle off a ton of wins in the remainder of the regular season to have any shot at making the 12-team College Football Playoff. Other members of the Texas offense have struggled, too, and the program has had to deal with some injuries. Calling Arch Manning a "flop" is a bit over the top The 6-foot-4, 219-pound Manning, who hails from New Orleans, is completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,151 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He's also rushed for 160 yards and five more scores on the ground. Those aren't mind-boggling numbers, but they're not awful, either. The challenge for Manning is that he comes from a famous football family. Ahead of 2025, he was named by the media as a preseason All-American, a Heisman Trophy favorite and a potential No. 1 overall pick in next year's NFL Draft despite this campaign being his first as a full-time starter. The Sooners' Heisman Trophy candidate, redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer, is trying to return for the game at Texas after having surgery to address a right-hand injury in September. Manning hasn't lived up to the preseason hype — yet. He's also not a flop. If he can outperform Mateer and give Oklahoma its first loss on Saturday, that would be massive for Manning's confidence and give Texas a little momentum heading into the second half of the regular season.
The Big Five: NFL’s biggest surprises of the 2025 season — for better or worse
The 2025 NFL season has already produced unexpected plot twists, with projected playoff teams struggling and preseason afterthoughts becoming the talk of the town. For better or worse, here are the NFL's most surprising teams entering Week 6. 1. Baltimore Ravens (1-4) When things can't possibly get worse for the Ravens, they reach new depths. By losing 44-10 in Week 5 to the Houston Texans, a team it has historically dominated, Baltimore tied for its worst home loss in franchise history. The Ravens made moves this week to improve a putrid secondary, acquiring safety Alohi Gilman from the Los Angeles Chargers for edge-rusher Odafe Oweh and signing free-agent safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but that's unlikely to provide immediate relief. In Week 6, Baltimore hosts the Los Angeles Rams, who have the league's second-ranked pass offense, so QB Matthew Stafford should carve up the defensive backfield with wideouts Puka Nacua (who is on a pace for a record-shattering season) and Davante Adams. Baltimore's offense, which is likely to be without two-time MVP starting quarterback Lamar Jackson (hamstring) for the second consecutive week, won't be able to keep up in a shootout. Oddsmakers agree, with Los Angeles an 8.5-point favorite, per ESPN BET. The Ravens appear headed for a 1-5 record entering their Week 7 bye, but they have a much more favorable schedule when they return. According to ESPN's NFL Football Power Index, Baltimore ranks No. 25 in remaining strength of schedule. With a healthy Jackson and an AFC North up for grabs, don't rule out a second-half surge. Yet it's just as likely Baltimore spends all season in a hole it can't get out of. 2. Indianapolis Colts (4-1) The most surprising success story of the season is in Indianapolis, which has surpassed all expectations. Quarterback Daniel Jones, who entered 2025 3-13 in his past 16 starts, is playing like an MVP candidate. Through five games, the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft is 107-of-150 (71.3 percent) for 1,290 yards, nine total touchdowns and two interceptions. The offense has generated most of the headlines, and for good reason, but the defense has been a revelation as well. The unit has held three of its first five opponents under 300 yards and forced a turnover in each game. Indy's fortune might not change in Week 6 as it hosts the Arizona Cardinals, who are coming off one of the most embarrassing collapses in recent history, blowing an 18-point lead at home to the previously winless Tennessee Titans. Arizona (2-3) has turned the ball over five times in its past two games. With road games remaining against the Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks, the Colts will soon provide a more accurate gauge on where they stand. But rather than being a Week 1 flash in the pan, Indianapolis looks built for the long haul. 3. San Francisco 49ers (4-1) Colts head coach Shane Steichen's main competition for Coach of the Year should be Kyle Shanahan, who has done a masterful job of leading a hobbled 49ers squad to the top of the NFC West. San Francisco is 3-0 without starting quarterback Brock Purdy, with Mac Jones joining Daniel Jones as one of the year's great reclamation projects. The Niners are also thriving without elite production in the run game from Christian McCaffrey, who is averaging 3.1 yards per carry. San Francisco is already 3-0 in division games, but to maintain its edge in the NFC West, the offense must become more balanced. Through Week 5, the Niners are first in pass offense (290.6 yards per game) but rank last in yards per rush attempt (3.1) and are the league's only team without a rushing touchdown. (Every other team has at least two.) 4. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1) The Jaguars made the AFC South the only NFL division with two one-loss teams after coming back to win at home against the three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs in Week 5. Jacksonville ranks in the top 10 in the NFL in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Jaguars have ascending talent on both sides of the ball, with running back Travis Etienne (443 rushing yards) averaging career highs in yards per carry (5.8) and rush yards per game (88.6). First-year head coach Liam Coen has done a good job of running him in advantageous situations, with Etienne only facing a stacked box (eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage) on 13 percent of his carries, the sixth-lowest rate among qualifying running backs, per NFL Pro. The defense, led by first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, a former Green Bay Packers linebackers coach/run game coordinator, has more than held up on its end, forcing an NFL-high 14 turnovers. Linebacker Devin Lloyd (four interceptions, one fumble recovery) is one of the league's most improved players. ESPN's FPI gives the Jaguars a 75.4 percent chance to reach the playoffs, the third-highest odds in the AFC, trailing the Buffalo Bills (92.2 percent) and Colts (85 percent). 5. Las Vegas Raiders (1-4) "I'm processing it poorly to tell you the truth," first-year Raiders head coach Pete Carroll, 74, told reporters after his team's 40-6 trouncing at the Colts last Sunday. "I did expect to win right out of the chutes," Carroll added. Technically, Las Vegas did, defeating the New England Patriots (3-2) in Week 1. But four consecutive losses have dimmed hopes of a playoff run and instead raised significant questions, particularly at quarterback. Geno Smith, acquired in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason, has regressed significantly after a strong three-year run as Seahawks starter. Through five games, Smith leads the NFL in interceptions (nine), throwing one on 5.5 percent of his pass attempts, more than double his rate from 2022-24 (2.1 percent). Instead of contending for a postseason spot, the Raiders, a longtime doormat, are closer to the No. 1 pick. Las Vegas is projected to end the season with the league's fifth-worst record, per ESPN. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Steelers Worked Out Two Linebackers, Including Isaiah Simmons
The Pittsburgh Steelers tried out two linebackers, including Michael Barrett and Isaiah Simmons, per the NFL Transactions wire. Simmons, 27, was a two-year starter at Clemson and won the Butkus Award as college football’s best linebacker in 2019. The Cardinals used the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 draft on him. Simmons signed a four-year, $20,664,055 rookie contract that includes a $12,588,404 signing bonus. Arizona wound up trading him to the Giants in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick. He was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent after the Cardinals declined his fifth-year option in May 2023, and he opted to remain in New York on a one-year deal. Simmons then signed with Green Bay this offseason but cut him loose at the end of August. In 2024, Simmons appeared in all 17 games for the Giants and made one start. He recorded 21 tackles and one forced fumble.
Why HC Andy Reid is to blame for Chiefs' collapse vs. Jaguars
The Kansas City Chiefs seemed to be in total control on "Monday Night Football." They jumped to an early 14-0 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars and were dominating on both sides of the ball before it all went downhill. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 29-of-41 with a touchdown and an interception, while Jaguars signal-caller Trevor Lawrence was 18-of-25, also with a TD and an interception. Despite similar stat lines, it was Lawrence who rallied his squad to a 31-28 win. The difference? The Chiefs drew a whopping 13 penalties, making it incredibly difficult for them to pull out a win as they constantly went backwards and gave up yards. That said, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid didn't seem to agree with some of the calls: "We had 13 penalties, to their 4," Reid said, per Harold R. Kuntz. "Whether I agree with them or don't agree w/ them, it doesn't matter. They called them. So, you have that many penalties, you give up field position, you can out stat them to death, but that doesn't matter. It's the score that matters." Andy Reid must be held accountable Reid is entitled to his opinion, but Monday night's game wasn't an outlier. The Chiefs have become one of the most undisciplined teams in the league, and that ultimately falls on the coach. Reid has also stuck with Jawaan Taylor at right tackle, even though he's leading the league in penalties for yet another season. As pointed out by Josh Dubow of Associated Press, the Chiefs are currently tied sixth for the most enforced penalties per game (8.4), fifth in enforced penalty yards per game (70), tied for the second-worst penalty differential (-13) and the third-worst team in penalty yard differential (-90). It's too early to sound the alarms, but undisciplined teams rarely go the distance. Reid is one of the greatest NFL head coaches of all time, but he needs to be held accountable and, more importantly, get to work to fix these issues.
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