Penn State RB Noah Cain ready for a bigger role in the Nittany Lions’ offense this season
Penn State football’s running back room is one of the most talented in the country and is primed to find success in 2020.
The backfield was one of the deepest in the nation last year with different contributors stepping up at different times throughout the year. Journey Brown, Noah Cain and Devyn Ford, who will all return for the 2020 season, took turns leading the unit in rushing yards early in the 2019 season. Cain began to emerge before an injury set him back and allowed Brown to take control of the job.
Now, finally in full health, Cain is ready to get rolling and do his part to make an already elite running back room even better.
“I feel like the game has slowed down for me,” he said on a conference call with the media Tuesday afternoon. “Last year, a lot of the time my eyes were all over the place. ... My main goal is for the game to slow down for me this year so I can make more plays when my number is called.”
Cain and the rest of the running back room, which also includes incoming freshmen Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee, will be in excellent position to see their numbers improve from last season.
New offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense utilized several running backs in a run-heavy offense that controlled the game when he was at Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions had three players each run the ball at least 73 times last year. But one of those players for Penn State was quarterback Sean Clifford. Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan ran the ball 61 times last season, but 30 of those attempts were counted as sacks. The implementation of Ciarrocca’s offense should take some of Clifford’s 116 rushing attempts — 24 of which were sacks — and allocate them to the running backs.
That opens the door for the team’s three returning backs, Brown, Cain and Ford, to all have a major role in the offense. The three backs will have that opportunity as long as they’re able to learn the new system and playbook. The group is trying to do that without the benefit of on-field work because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Cain has taken habits from one of the other running backs in order to help himself learn the system quicker.
“I’ve been learning from Devyn a lot,” Cain said. “He picked the playbook up faster than me last year before the season. So I was trying to learn from him to see how he learned. He was teaching me different things on how he understood the playbook faster. He’s a smart guy.”
True sophomores Cain and Ford will be competing with redshirt junior Brown for the lion-share of the carries after Brown’s dominant performance in the final weeks of last season.
Brown ran for 593 yards and nine touchdowns on 78 carries over the last five games of the 2019 season, including a 202-yard performance against Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.
The running back earned the opportunity afforded to him and took full advantage.
“That’s a testament to being ready when your number is called,” Cain said. “Beginning in the season when Ricky (Slade) was starting then I got my opportunity, Journey never hated or anything. He just waited his turn. ... He never looked back. He was playing like the best back in the country the last few games last year. ... I’m just excited, honestly, to see how he capitalizes off of that this season. I know he’s been working hard so it’s going to be good to see.”
The trio of backs with experience, along with the two incoming freshmen, will play a major role in Penn State’s offensive effectiveness this season. The group’s success could create a base of success for the Nittany Lions and help take pressure off Clifford at quarterback.
With the season now in sight and just over two months until its scheduled start, Cain is ready to get started and show what he, and his teammates, can do in the new offense.
“For all of us in the room, we’re all improving. It’s a new year, last year is in the past,” Cain said. “I’m just real eager to learn the playbook and the new offense and just try to play my part next year.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 4:23 PM.
