Tag: Nick Singleton

Over 5,000 college football players have opted in to be in EA Sports College Football 25

EA Sports confirms over 5,000 players have confirmed they will be in the long-awaited college football video game this year.

When Penn State running back Nick Singleton announced on his Instagram feed that he had opted in to officially be included in the upcoming release of EA Sports College Football 25, he was clearly not alone. According to a representative from EA Sports, over 5,000 college football players have already opted in to have their name, image, and likeness included in the long-awaited revival of the gaming publisher’s iconic college football video game franchise.

“More than 5,000 college athletes have opted-in across more than 130 FBS schools… in less than 12 hours,” John Reseburg, VP of Global Marketing, Communications, and Partnerships for EA Sports, said in a message on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account last Thursday. “The total keeps growing.”

By now, it is unknown just what that number has escalated too, although it should not be surprising to know college football players around the country, including at Penn State, are taking advantage of the opportunity to capitalize on their inclusion in the game.

EA Sports is reportedly providing a $600 NIL payment to any college football player who chooses to opt-in to be included in the game, which will be releasing sometime this summer (official release date to be announced in May). Each player opting in will also receive a free copy of the game for whichever gaming console they choose.

EA Sports has not released a college football video game since 2013 with the release of NCAA Football 14. Legal battles over NIL got too heavy to deal with and schools and conferences began backing out of being included in the game, putting the beloved franchise on the shelf waiting for the right time to properly bring the game back to the masses.

Now in the era of NIL in college sports, the time is now.

It has been reported that while the basic deal for athletes will be for $600 and a free copy of the game, some athletes will receive wealthier NIL packages as brand ambassadors for the game. It is assumed Singleton is in that category based on his recent Instagram post.

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Penn State RB Nick Singleton will be in EA Sports College Football 25

EA Sports College Football 25 will include this star Penn State running back.

College football video game fans are in for a real treat later this summer when EA Sports finally brings its college football video game franchise back from the dead. EA Sports College Football 25 is set for a summer release, with a confirmed launch date still to be announced. But the video game giant is busy getting the hype started months ahead of schedule with schools and players being confirmed to be included in the first iteration of a college football video game in over a decade.

Penn State has confirmed it will be included in the game, and a computer rendering of the Nittany Lion mascot was seen in the first official video tease of the upcoming title from EA Sports recently. And now details have come out confirming how players choosing to be a part of the game will be compensated. Every FBS player is eligible to opt-in to being included in the game for a return of $600 and a free copy of the game from EA Sports. Among those who have announced they are opting in is Penn State running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag].

Singleton posted a graphic on his Instagram account this week confirming he is in the game. It has been reported EA Sports will have increased packages for some more notable athletes who become ambassadors for the franchise. Judging by the graphic and the hashtag used on Singleton’s Instagram post, it may be safe to assume Singleton is a part of that marketing strategy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3qdgA0S34l/

EA Sports College Football is expected to be made available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. There are no reports of the game being made available on Nintendo Switch or PC at this time, which would be a real bummer for those of us dreaming of taking the game on the go with the Switch (honestly, I’d be perfectly fine if EA Sports decided to serve up a port of NCAA Football 14 with updated rosters and dump it on the Switch).

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Penn State’s streak of landing Pennsylvania’s No. 1 player ends

Penn State loses out on a commitment from the top-rated in-state recruit to a major Big Ten rival.

Since [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] took over the head coaching job at Penn State in 2014, his goal on the recruiting trail has been to dominate the state of Pennsylvania.

One of the most coveted recruiting pipelines in the entire country, getting the best players to stay home and play for the Nittany Lions has been one of his biggest priorities.

He was able to accomplish that in 2015 when signing Saquon Barkley, who was the No. 1 ranked player in the state. Franklin has continued this dominance, signing Pennsylvania’s best player, during eight of his 11 recruiting cycles according to 247Sports’ rankings.

Moving into the class of 2025, the Nittany Lions had gone three straight years signing the state’s No. 1 player after getting [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] in 2022, [autotag]J’ven Williams[/autotag] in 2023 and [autotag]Quinton Martin[/autotag] most recently in 2024.

But, unfortunately this streak has seemingly come to an end after 2025 edge rusher, Zahir Mathis, committed to Ohio State on Wednesday.

The 6’5″ 230 pound four-star prospect from Philadelphia is the No. 55 overall player in the class and the best in Pennsylvania according to On3’s industry rankings.

While it’s disappointing to have this streak come to an end, the most notable thing about Mathis’ recruitment before making his commitment was that Penn State did not make his final list of schools.

Before deciding on Ohio State, he was between them, Florida State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Much of Mathis’ decision came down to his connection between himself and Ohio State’s defensive line coach, Larry Johnson, stating that was a major factor throughout his recruitment.

So, Penn State will need to turn their attention to other top prospects in the state with the sixth rated player, Anthony Sacca, being on their list of targets.

Social media reacts to Penn State’s dreadful Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss

Social media reacts to Penn State’s Peach bowl loss to Ole Miss

Penn State’s offense has been under fire for pretty much the whole 2023 season, and the unit’s performance in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss was much of the same. Lackluster, uninspiring, one-dimensional, un-explosive, or whatever word you want to describe it surfaced Saturday afternoon in the 38-25 loss to the Rebels. The Nittany Lions finished the season 10-3 and will go into next season with a lot of questions surrounding their offense and what it will look like.

The offseason should be an interesting one, with Penn State in dire need of offensive upgrades, especially in the receiver department. There are pieces to build around, like Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton, and perhaps Harrison Wallace III, but that’s a conversation for another time. Social media is a here-and-now atmosphere, and it sure didn’t miss on Penn State’s dud performance in the Peach Bowl centered around another anemic passing performance, Drew Allar, and the Penn State offense.

Peach Bowl dud ends Penn State’s season with 38-25 loss to Ole Miss

Penn State’s frustrating season ended with a blowout loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

A year after celebrating a bowl victory in a shower of rose petals, Penn State’s end to the 2023 season was anything but peachy. Penn State was dominated by Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and ended the year with a stinker in a 38-25 loss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions defense was shredded by Ole Miss, which took advantage of favorable matchups in the passing game all afternoon in Atlanta.

Penn State struck first with a field goal by [autotag]Alex Felkins[/autotag] from 26 yards on their first offensive series of the game. That came after the defense forced a quick three-and-out against the Ole Miss defense to start the game, which led to Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart heading to the medical tent at the end of the brief possession.

Penn State may have caught some breaks on the ensuing Ole Miss possession. After the Rebels entered the red zone, officials blew dead what could have been a live ball for an Ole Miss touchdown due to a whistle for an offside penalty on Penn State. The Rebels had to settle for a field goal after officials missed another potential penalty on Penn State on the following snap.

Both teams scored twice in the second quarter with Penn State scoring a pair of touchdowns with a touchdown pass from [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag] to [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and a [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] pass to [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag]. But the half ended with Penn State trailing by a score of 20-17 after giving up 340 yards of offense to the Rebels. And of the 115 passing yards Allar had at the half, 75 of them came on one play at the end of the first quarter when [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag] caught a pass and ran for a big gain.

Dart had gotten in a rhythm with his passing and gashed a Penn State defense playing without its top two defensive backs and top defensive end, and a defense that took some injuries at linebacker in the first half to [autotag]Kobe King[/autotag] and [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag]. Dart connected six times in the first half with tight end Caden Prieskorn, twice for a touchdown and three times for a first down, and five times with star wide receiver Tre Harris, each time for a first down.

The third quarter was a disaster for Penn State. The offense went three-and-out on all three third-quarter possessions. Meanwhile, the Rebels just continued to take advantage of its tempo to leave the Penn State defense scrambling and unable to catch up. Ole Miss added 10 points to its halftime lead and took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter. At that point, the game was all but decided as Penn State’s threat of a comeback was thwarted with a blocked field goal that led to an Ole Miss touchdown run by Dart to put the game well out of reach at 38-17. A late touchdown pass from Allar to [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] cut into the Ole Miss lead, but was too little, too late.

Penn State played the Peach Bowl without some key players who opted out of the game with an eye toward their NFL futures. Penn State was without offensive lineman [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], and cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag]. All three could be potential first-round draft picks in the 2024 NFL draft. Penn State was also without [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag], who left his position as defensive coordinator to become the head coach at Duke. The defense looked disorganized, which should have been expected given the absences from what was rated one of the top defensive units of the season. But the offensive struggles were nothing new for the roster, and there was no evidence of finding ways to change things up in the bowl game.

Penn State will now look forward to the 2024 college football season, which will be quite an interesting year for the Big Ten and the entire college football landscape. Penn State will open the 2024 season on the road at West Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. The Big Ten will also welcome four new members in Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, and Penn State will face each of them except for Oregon. The College Football Playoff will also expand to 12 teams next season, making it easier than ever for the Nittany Lions to get into the playoff mix in the playoff era. Well, if they can patch up the offense at all between now and next fall.

Penn State’s spring game, the Blue-White Game, is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2024.

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5 keys to a Penn State victory over Ole Miss the Peach Bowl

5 keys for a Penn State victory in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss

It’s been about a month since Penn State took care of business on Black Friday against Michigan State in their last regular season game. We are now less than a day away from the Nittany Lions taking on No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels in the 56th annual Peach Bowl.

Penn State is seeking its 11 win of the season, and it won’t be an easy task. Ole Miss has improved from an 8-5 finish last year and, with a win against LSU, had a resurgent season, going 10-2 and finishing in the top-5 of the SEC. The Nittany Lions and the Rebels have never faced one another, and Ole Miss is the last remaining SEC school Penn State has yet to face. Historically, Penn State has a .500 record against the rest of the SEC, including Texas and Oklahoma.

Both teams and programs are pretty different from each other, but both have ended up in Atlanta, with one team going home with a statement win for next season and the other with three losses. Here are five keys to a Nittany Lion win on Saturday against the Rebels.

Penn State’s cornerbacks coach discusses potential contributing freshmen

Could any of these freshmen find a role in Penn State’s defense in 2024? An assistant coach offers his opinion.

Penn State had a fantastic signing day, locking up all 25 of their commits and having no drama surround their program on a day that can become filled with potential commits signing elsewhere.

On the recruiting front, the Nittany Lions’ coaching staff will turn their attention towards future classes and continue to try and build another elite class that has become the norm under [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag].

As far as the on field product goes, the next question that presents itself is which one of the incoming freshman could become impact players in their first season in the program?

Penn State had five players, all on the defensive side of the ball, forego their redshirt seasons during the 2023-24 campaign. Linebacker [autotag]Tony Rojas[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Jameial Lyons[/autotag], safety [autotag]King Mack[/autotag] and corners [autotag]Zion Tracy[/autotag] and [autotag]Elliott Washington[/autotag] all contributed in limited roles.

Cornerbacks coach, Terry Smith, was asked which players in the 2024 class could follow that mold and become contributors immediately in their first year by Ryan Snyder of On3 (paid subscription required).

He immediately looked to his position group as the Nittany Lions have three players entering the NFL draft.

Smith said that [autotag]Jon Mitchell[/autotag] and [autotag]Antoine Belgrave-Shorter[/autotag] are two players to watch since they are enrolling in January and will get to work within the program as soon as possible.

He notes that it will come down to if they can make the transition from the high school level to high-major Power 5 football and adjust to the processing speed it takes to recognize what is happening during the play.

Talent-wise he thinks Mitchell and Belgrave-Shorter have the tools to be contributors, but it will come down to making that adjustment.

As far as the offensive side of the ball, he has his eye on running back, [autotag]Quentin Martin[/autotag], who is a Top-100 player.

Even in a loaded running back room with [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] coming back, Martin is an explosive playmaker and could be used in the passing game early on as he is considered the best receiver in the room already.

Top 10 Penn State bowl game individual rushing performances

Here is a look at the top 10 individual rushing performances in Penn State bowl history.

As we count down the days until Penn State kicks off against Ole Miss in the 2023 Peach Bowl, it’s fun to look back on some Nittany Lions’ bowl game history. Two standout backs, [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], are expected to play in the bowl game this year so perhaps more memorable performances are on deck.

Penn State has had its share of quality running backs throughout its storied history, none more famous than [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] and [autotag]Franco Harris[/autotag]. Harris was a big and powerful runner who led the Nittany Lions to an undefeated season in 1971 as an All-American. He would go on to win four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Barkley broke several Penn State rushing records during his time in Happy Valley and showed the innate ability to break off highlight plays. He was one of if not the most electrifying players in Penn State history

Do either of these two backs make the list of top-10 rushing performances in Penn State bowl game history?

5 reactions to Penn State’s Peach Bowl matchup against Ole Miss

With Penn State bid in the Peach Bowl confirmed, we give our reactions to the matchup against Ole Miss.

Penn State received a date to the Peach Bowl, where Ole Miss will be waiting for them in Atlanta on December 30th, which comes out of the SEC as the third-highest-ranked team behind Alabama and Georgia. The Nittany Lions’ appearance in the Peach Bowl is the program’s first and the fifth New Year’s Six bowl under [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag]. Penn State and Ole Miss have never faced each other and come into the matchup with both teams holding just two losses each against the top two teams in their respective conferences.

The Rebels typically high-powered offense struggled against Alabama and Georgia, while their defense gave up 52 points to the Bulldogs just three weeks ago. Penn State’s defense will have their handful with a top-20 scoring offense. Ole Miss has had an up-and-down year defensively, but the Rebels should still present [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and the Nittany Lions with a challenge.

With all of the bowls being announced today, let’s take a look at some quick reactions to [autotag]Penn State’s Peach Bowl[/autotag] matchup against Ole Miss in arguably the top bowl matchup outside of the College Football Playoff.

Five stats that show what Andy Kotelnicki’s offense is all about

These numbers suggest Penn State’s offense will be in good hands under the leadership of Andy Kotelnicki.

Penn State’s search for a new offensive coordinator officially came to a close with the hiring of [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag], just a day after reports of the hire began to spread.. The Minnesota native will be tasked with turning one of the country’s least explosive offensives into one that can take the top off the defense. For most, Kotelnicki’s name might not have been at the top of their shortlists, but in the 24 hours since the news broke, everyone seems to agree that the hire is a slam dunk.

If you have watched Kansas football this year, you would know that the creativity jumps off the tape, and that trait was sorely missed in Happy Valley this season. James Franklin said he wanted a head coach of the offense, and Kotelnicki’s track record at Kansas and before that Buffalo shows that he can and will make the offense his own. While we won’t have any visuals on the new look Nittany Lion offense until the 2024 Blue-White game in the spring, that won’t stop us from diving into some numbers that should give Penn State fans some hope that better offensive production is on the way.