Penn State's Running Backs Seek to Build Their Own Legacy

Several former Penn State running backs returned to campus in the spring as part of head coach Matt Campbell’s alumni outreach program. For the Nittany Lions’ running backs, legacy was an important part of the conversation.

Three of the backs who visited Happy Valley — Ki-Jana Carter, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen — all shared a similar sentiment: Make your own legacy.

“Ki-Jana Carter said this to the players when they came in: ‘Yeah, I went No. 1 overall, but you've got to create your own legacy,’” Penn State running backs coach Savon Huggins said. “I think that was one of the best things that he said. [He] was like, ‘Yes, I've done what I’ve done, but I want y'all to create your own legacy. Don't follow mine. My journey was my journey. Create your own legacy.’

“Kaytron has shared that, and Nick has shared that, and I think that allows these guys to be their own best version of themselves.”

Building their ow Penn State legacy

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Ki-Jana Carter in action against the Michigan Wolverines at Beaver Stadium in 1993. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State’s new running backs room remains a competitive position, with at least three backs (Carson Hansen, James Peoples, Quinton Martin Jr.) jockeying for snaps. If Cam Wallace makes a run, and early indications suggest he will, Penn State will have a crowded backfield.

Still, that room has some big shoes to fill. The Nittany Lions have one of the richest histories in college football at the running back position.

Carter will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year and went No. 1 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. Saquon Barkley went No. 2 overall in 2018 and has been one of the most accomplished backs in the league, earning a Super Bowl title, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Pro and AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Meanwhile, Singleton and Allen — Penn State’s all-time leaders in total touchdowns and rushing yards, respectively — became the eighth pair of running backs selected in the same draft in school history.

“Everybody knows about Saquon Barkley, but there's someone that went higher than him, right [Ki-Jana Carter]?” Huggins said. “Blair Thomas and D.J. Dozier [also were selected high]. I think when Coach Campbell brought all these different alumni back in the spring, [it] helped these players understand the magnitude of how important it is to carry the ball at Penn State.

“And then on top of that, I think me explaining to them that the decisions that we make, everybody's watching you. … So you want to help them acknowledge that, but you don't also want them to be thinking about that as they go about their day-to-day.”

Huggins said it has been important for him and the staff to communicate with his room about the Nittany Lions’ history of the running back position. He said he will occasionally include highlights of former backs in presentations to help his unit understand what it means to carry the football at Penn State.

'You'd better bring your lunch pail'

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Carson Hansen runs with the ball during practice at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser shares that same mindset with Huggins. He even took it up a notch when discussing what it truly means to play running back at Penn State.

“The standards there, playing running back at Penn State, [are] different,” Mouser said. “You take a play off, or you don't run hard, you're embarrassing a legacy of running backs that played here for a long time. And that was my challenge to them. It's different from most positions at most schools. You'd better bring your lunch pail every single day. I told those guys, the running back sets the tone for this offense. So you better run hard every single time, and those guys do.”

Martin said the backs are all “very aware” of the legacy they’re trying to continue. He called that one of the motivations continuously given to them, which makes them work harder “each and every day.”

Maybe the most important thing Wallace said, though, was that he has played with some of the best running backs this program has seen in Singleton and Allen. He knows what it looks like. And he knows what it takes to perform at that level.

“We're just gonna go out there and play our own game,” Martin said. “We all individually have our own stories, and we're gonna go out there and prove ourselves.”

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