James Franklin “confident” Nick Singleton will play against Purdue

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (NITTANY NATION) – Penn State running back Nick Singleton was cruising in the fast lane to start the season, but since missing the UCLA game, his season has hit a speed bump.

After leaving this past weekend's win against Washington with an undisclosed injury, all signs are pointing to him dodging another detour ahead of a matchup against Purdue.

"Medical decisions are out of my league, but we're confident that he'll be ready to play," Penn State head coach James Franklin said.

Singleton opened the year with more than 100 total yards in each of the first four games, but his production has dropped off since then. In the past four games, Singleton has just rushed for a total of 135 yards and has seen Kaytron Allen usurp him in carries, rushing yards and touchdowns in recent weeks.

"Coach is always saying (be ready to be the) next guy up, making sure everybody is ready," tight end Khalil Dinkins said. "(Having depth is) a real good way for us to move around guys and make sure we can put guys into the right positions when we need to and put them in the right place when we need to."

Despite Singleton not being as productive in the ground game, his numbers have increased in the passing game with more receptions and yards in his last four games compared to his first four.

"It's important to us to get Nick involved in the passing game," Franklin said. "It's going to help him long term in his career as well (with) the more things he's able to do."

The question most fans have though, is will he be able to play against Purdue and how will he look? We'll find out the answer on Saturday.