Kaytron Allen spoke Tuesday with the maturity of a college senior who has seen much during his Penn State football career.
Allen said the 30-24 loss to Oregon in double overtime wasn’t cause for the Nittany Lions to panic or overhaul things.
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“It’s going to happen,” he said. “Everything’s not going to be perfect in football. Sometimes you need lessons. Sometimes you need setbacks. I’m not saying we wanted a thing like Saturday, but sometimes we need it to get back to who we are.”
Allen and No. 7 Penn State (0-1 Big Ten, 3-1) will look to rebound against UCLA (0-1, 0-4) Saturday at 3:30 (TV-CBS) at the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins have a porous defense that ranks 131st out of 134 teams against the run, 106th in total yards allowed and 118th in points allowed.
It’s a golden opportunity for the Lions to generate a lot of offense after Oregon held them to 276 total yards, including 25 in overtime.
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“We just have to get back to practice,” Allen said. “We just have to be better than we were. It’s really not anything too crazy.”
Allen has been the best player on offense so far for Penn State, leading the team with 327 rushing yards, a 7.1 average (11th in the country) and four touchdowns. He scored the Lions’ TD in the first overtime on a 4-yard run.
After rushing for 1,108 yards and eight TDs last season, he looked in the mirror and thought about what he needed to do to improve. He dropped some weight and looks faster.
“I just tried to do a little self-reflecting after the season,” Allen said. “I just thought about what I needed to work on. I’m trying to focus on the main things I need to work on – speed, agility and making somebody miss.
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“I’m just doing things that get me out of my comfort zone to be better than what I was last year.”
Despite Allen’s performance, Penn State ranks 53rd in rushing with 180.0 yards per game.
Former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton ran for 1,099 yards and 12 TDs last season, but he has struggled to find room this season. He has just 207 yards, a 3.8 average and five TDs.
Allen expects his running mate and roommate to break out very soon.
“He’s going to be good,” he said. “We put in a lot of work in the offseason. We both have things to work on. We have to get back to the drawing board, try to get better and learn from Saturday’s game.
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“You’re going to see it (Singleton busting loose). It’s going to show.”
Penn State coach James Franklin sounded Monday like he’s not worried about Singleton, who has not had a run of longer than 16 yards. He’s had 12 rushes of at least 40 yards in his career.
“I think Nick, although the statistics would not say this, is playing consistent, how he’s played in the past,” Franklin said. “The difference with Nick is there has usually been one or two runs where there has been a space, a gap, a hole, where he can rip off an explosive run.
“He’s been a guy that’s been able to do that throughout his career with a 60-yard or 80-yard run. That obviously changes the perception and the statistics.”
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Allen, meanwhile, said he’s better than he was last season, but he has yet to show the “best me.”
“I still have a lot of things to work on,” he said. “I’ve just been trying to play free, being me, sticking to what got me here. I’m just trying to get better and learn from everything.
“I’m not at my peak yet. I’m still reaching for it. I think it’s going to come in one of these games.”
Franklin said that Penn State’s offense is at its best when Allen and Singleton run the ball effectively.
“When we’re able to run the ball, our play-action pass has still been something very good to us,” he said. “We’ve been better in short-yardage situations than in the past, but we have to get to more short-yardage situations.
“Kaytron Allen has had a really good early part of the season and we’ve got to build on that, too.”
