Florida State’s backfield wasted no time making noise in its opener, and senior running back Sam Singleton, Jr. came out of it with the kind of performance that gets people talking.
In the Seminoles’ 34-17 win over New Mexico State, Singleton put together 164 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns while making an impact as a runner, receiver, and kickoff returner. That production was enough to earn him ACC Receiver of the Week honors, even if it didn’t catch Kam Martin by surprise.
Martin, Florida State’s running backs coach, said he saw this coming long before Singleton broke out on Saturday. He also drew a familiar comparison, linking Singleton to a back he coached at UCF.
“Man, a guy like Sammy, he’s fun to coach,” Martin said. “He reminds me of a guy that I coached at UCF, R.J. Harvey.”
Harvey’s résumé is a big one. He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2024 after leading the conference with 1,577 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns. The Denver Broncos then took him with the No. 60 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and he went on to lead all rookies with 12 total touchdowns.
Martin said Singleton’s game goes beyond the production, pointing to the way he carries himself around the program.
“Sam’s a guy that’s in the building all the time,” Martin continued. “Yesterday was an off day, and he came up and said, ‘Coach, how can I get better? What are some things I can work on?’”
The praise didn’t stop there. Sophomore Ousmane Kromah, who had been getting plenty of attention after being named PFF’s highest-graded rusher in Week 0, had his own label for Singleton: “Sweet Feet.”
“Sweet Feet, I’m telling you, that boy is nice. He’s the truth,” Kromah said.
“Since Kam got here, we knew we were going to have a running back room. I’ve been preaching and telling y’all about that.
Just seeing how each and every one of us can go and get after it whenever we need to is exciting. I was happy for my dog.”
Kromah, Singleton and Quintrevion Wisner were all part of the workload against New Mexico State, combining for 191 rushing yards on 27 carries. Kromah said Florida State didn’t go into the opener with a set carry count for each back. The idea was simple: keep riding whoever had the hot hand.
And if all three backs are rolling at once, Kromah made it clear that’s a problem for whoever lines up across from Florida State next.
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