Stan Drayton, Penn State's Running Backs Coach, Isn't Shy About Feedback

Penn State's backs have more to learn

Singleton and Allen returned as 1,000-yard rushers with a shared goal of becoming Penn State’s all-time leading rushers this season. Yet at Penn State media day in August, Drayton noted that both Singleton and Allen had similar areas of the game in which he wanted them to improve. 

“They have great instincts, they have great vision, they are very physical, tough football players,” Drayton said. “But the truth of the matter is, they weren’t great students of the game. So we had to get back and understand big-picture offense, systematically what we’re trying to do, but most importantly how the defenses are trying to defend that.”

Allen said that Drayton being up-front and “telling us our flaws” was something he needed to hear. Allen had a healthy offseason, and Singleton said he even “lost a little baby weight,” which has made him faster. 

In the opener, Singleton and Allen combined for 62 yards and three touchdowns on 16 limited carries. Allen had the longest carry of the duo, scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run. Singleton scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, moving him to second all-time on Penn State’s touchdown list behind Saquon Barkley.  

Still, it was the first game, and Penn State coach James Franklin said he wasn’t surprised by Nevada’s decision to prioritize stopping the run game. While Penn State’s new receivers compensated with a strong debut, Franklin wants the run game to hit its stride for the Big Ten schedule.   

“We have to make sure that we’re balanced enough that we can run or pass by the time we get to the mid-point of the season,” Franklin said this week. “That we can run or pass to win games, because with the best teams, that’s what they’re going to do. They are going to try to take one of these things away.”

Getting better after Week 1

After Penn State’s 46-11 win over Nevada, Allen said Drayton’s message refocused the group on the week’s upcoming practice and “How can we go 1-0 this week?”

“[Drayton] gets us prepared throughout the week,” Allen said. “He does most of the talking throughout the week, but he just lets us play ball on Saturdays. He’s a great coach.” 

Drayton said in August that the Penn State program has a “family atmosphere” that made Singleton and Allen’s decisions to stay unsurprising. He said this extra year will benefit them in their professional careers. 

“They absolutely have good self-awareness of the things they need to work on, and if we didn’t work on those things [for] next year, it probably could’ve hurt their status last year,” Drayton said. “They gave themselves another opportunity to get better, which, I mean how can you know that, right?”

Up next, Penn State faces FIU, which received a vote in this week’s Coaches Poll.  The Panthers defeated Bethune-Cookman 42-9, allowing just 105 rushing yards. Penn State is obviously a tougher test, but just as Nevada did, it wouldn’t be surprising if FIU focuses more on attacking the line of scrimmage. 

Franklin would like Penn State’s offense to become more explosive overall in both its play-calling and shot-taking, and Allen thinks the offense could look significantly different than last year. 

“Everybody can ball, everybody can play, everybody is trying to take advantage of the opportunities,” Allen said, adding it ultimately comes down to how the team approaches practice. “The things we’re doing, it just makes sense that we would be the most, one of the most explosive teams, if not the [most] explosive team.”