Nicholas Singleton, Ji’Ayir Brown capture Big Ten weekly awards following win over Auburn

Story posted September 19, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Alex Rocco

Following Penn State’s dominant 41-12 victory over Auburn on Saturday, two players were recognized for their contributions.

Safety Ji’Ayir Brown was all over the field on Saturday, tallying five tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception.

Brown's strip-sack in the third quarter was his first career sack and his second career forced fumble before he added his seventh career interception later in the quarter.

This is his second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award as he was the last Nittany Lion to win the award last season in early November.

Running back Nicholas Singleton went off in his Beaver Stadium debut in Week 2 against Ohio, exploding for 179 yards and two touchdowns, capturing Big Ten freshman of the Week.

Singleton followed up his award-winning performance the next week by rushing for 124 yards on just 10 carries while finding the endzone twice en route to securing back-to-back Big Ten freshman of the Week.

The Shillington, Pennsylvania, native became the first true freshman since Noah Cain in 2019 to have two consecutive games reaching the century mark in rushing yards.

With runs of 54 and 53 yards, Singleton now has five runs of 40+ yards this season and three over 50 yards to lead the country.

His 334 yards are the most rushing yards by a Penn State freshman through the first three games of a season, passing Saquon Barkley’s mark of 311 in 2015.

Alex Rocco is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email alex.rocco1702@gmail.com.