Penn State, Washington among teams with ‘quiet statement wins’

Penn State operating again Nick Singleton is on an ascending path to school soccer stardom.

The Nittany Lions’ freshman again ran throughout Auburn in a dominant 41-12 victory Saturday. He totaled 124 yards and two touchdowns on the bottom, guiding Penn State to a press release win over a top quality SEC opponent.

James Franklin’s program has not had a 1,000-yard rusher since Miles Sanders did it in 2018. Now, three video games into the 2022 marketing campaign, it appears to be like like Singleton is properly on his method to conducting the feat.

“Penn State now has mounted their foremost situation,” FOX Sports activities school soccer analyst Joel Klatt stated. “They now have a run sport to lean on, and that run sport’s identify is Nick Singleton.”

Klatt listed Penn State as one among three groups with “quiet assertion wins” on the newest episode of his new podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show.“

“That is a kind of uncommon moments in school soccer the place the man who must be the man in his first yr truly is the man,” Klatt stated on Singleton.

With regards to rating school soccer blue bloods, Penn State is actually close to the highest of the listing. Franklin has compiled a 94-49 file since arriving at PSU in 2014, which incorporates three double-digit win seasons. Nonetheless, the previous two seasons haven’t lived as much as program requirements, because the Nittany Lions went 4-5 within the COVID-shortened 2020 season and adopted that with a 7-6 mark final yr.

Senior quarterback Sean Clifford has taken a lot of the blame for this system’s shortcomings, regardless of being a four-year starter who has thrown for greater than 8,500 yards and 67 touchdowns throughout his profession. 

Though Clifford and the Penn State offense have had their struggles over the previous two seasons, a lot of that may be attributed to the shortage of a constant speeding presence. Now, with Singleton main the best way, this offense appears to be like to have a extra balanced assault, which ought to assist soften opposing defenses and permit them to be extra multidimensional.

“That is the right situation for Sean Clifford,” Klatt stated. “He’s the kind of quarterback that may be actually good for you in the event you’re not requiring him to be good.”

Penn State is about to play host to Central Michigan (1-2) and Northwestern (1-2) earlier than establishing a possible Large Ten showdown with the No. 4-ranked Michigan Wolverines on Oct. 15 in Ann Arbor.

“That’s gonna be an important sport,” Klatt stated. ‘I absolutely anticipate Penn State goes into Michigan 5-0, and I absolutely anticipate Michigan – if they can play like they’ve been enjoying – may even be undefeated heading into that sport. That units up a mammoth sport.”

One other staff that notched a “quiet assertion win” in Week 3 was the Washington Huskies. Kalen DeBoer’s squad ran throughout a Michigan State staff that had outscored its first two opponents 87-13.

Washington QB Michael Penix dissected the Spartans’ protection, finishing 24 of 40 passes for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns, whereas the Huskies’ protection shut down the Spartans’ speeding assault.

“We’ve failed to recollect how good Michael Penix was when he’s wholesome,” Klatt stated of the Huskies’ senior signal-caller. “You’ve a coach and QB reunited … and it’s working.”

Washington followers storm the sector after upsetting No. 11 Michigan State

Washington Huskies followers storm the sector after upsetting the No. 11 Michigan State Spartans.

DeBoer served as Indiana’s offensive coordinator in 2019, the place Penix began beneath middle and loved a profession yr, guiding the Hoosiers to a powerful 8-4 mark and a spot within the Gator Bowl. 

The previous Hoosier carved up the Spartans’ protection that season as properly, throwing for 286 yards and three scores in a 40-31 shootout, which resulted in a loss.

Now reunited together with his former OC in Washington, Penix is enjoying pretty much as good as any signal-caller in school soccer by three weeks.

“Michael Penix … good on you, sir,” Klatt stated. “That was an important assertion win.”

Klatt’s third staff that he referred to as out in Monday’s podcast for registering a quiet assertion win was the Kansas Jayhawks.

Junior quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for 158 yards and three touchdowns, whereas including 123 yards and two scores on the bottom as Kansas improved to 3-0 for the primary time since 2009 with a powerful 48-30 win over Houston on Saturday.

The Jayhawks’ win additionally marked the primary time since 2007 that this system received back-to-back street video games.

“It’s arduous to overstate how wonderful that is,” Klatt stated on Kansas’ undefeated begin. “Lance Leipold is doing God’s work in Lawrence, Kansas.”

Kansas Jayhawks’ wonderful 3-0 begin and Lance Leipold’s secret to success

oel Klatt praises the Kansas Jayhawks’ 3-0 begin and explains how Lance Leipold’s program rebuild is beginning to present dividends.

Leipold arrived at Kansas final season after serving as the top coach at Buffalo from 2015-20. He took over a Kansas program that was coming off a winless season (0-9) in 2020 and went 2-10 in his first season on the helm, which makes this yr’s 3-0 begin much more spectacular. Nonetheless, Klatt stated followers ought to have seen this scorching begin coming.

“This didn’t come out of nowhere,” Klatt stated. “There’s a sample of how you are taking a program that’s within the weeds and the way you carry them out.

“You lose large, and in the event you’re doing the best issues and getting higher, then you definitely’ll ultimately lose small. Everybody simply desires to get to that time of the place you’re profitable, however what they don’t perceive is that there’s a step earlier than that.”

Regardless of being simply 1-8 in Large 12 play final season, the Jayhawks did pull off a memorable upset win over Texas towards the backend of their schedule. Kansas adopted that sport up with a detailed 31-28 loss to TCU and a 34-28 defeat to West Virginia.

“We must always have identified one thing was brewing,” Klatt stated. “They took the steps essential to get to the place they’re beginning to go, which is from profitable small to probably profitable large.”

Kansas is about to tackle Duke in a battle of undefeated packages Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. 

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