After dealing with injuries, adversity, Penn State’s running backs are set to kick into high gear
Penn State running backs are “hungry, motivated and determined,” position coach Ja’Juan Seider said Saturday at Media Day.
Seider understands the importance of building a strong running game and putting his players in the position to succeed. Current Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles Sanders rushed for 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns in 2018. The next year, Journey Brown, Noah Cain and Devyn Ford combined for 1,627 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns.
But then, the group hit some snags.
Brown went on to medically retire from football in November 2020 after discovering he had a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart condition where the organ becomes thickened without a direct cause. Cain dealt with multiple injuries throughout his freshman and sophomore seasons, with a total of 11 games missed. The surest of running backs left in good health were Ford, who rushed for rushed for 274 yards and three touchdowns in 2020 and Keyvone Lee, who broke onto the scene with 438 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Then this offseason entered Baylor transfer John Lovett, who compiled 355 carries for 1,803 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns over his four years with the Bears. Seider now had the opportunity to rebuild his running back room and create more chances to diversify their attack.
“It was important to get an older guy because of the dynamics in our room,” Seider said. “As happy as I am to get an older back, there was no guarantee that he would be 100 percent. So, from that point, we were down to nothing — we only had four guys on scholarship at the position. I felt like with an extra guy in that room that’s an older guy who has been through the fire, led his team in rushing and I knew a lot about him. It filled the boxes in a number of ways.
“With losing Journey [Brown], he gave us that type of back. He’s able to slash and has good home run speed. That’s what we needed in our class.”
Lovett received an offer from Penn State coming out of high school. He’s seen the likes of Saquon Barkley, Sanders and Brown take turns as the dynamic Nittany Lion backs of their years. The New Jersey native wants to be great. So, he thought to himself, “Why not follow greatness?”
“God led me here. It’s a running back university — big-time coaches, big-time facility, stadium, fans — everything here,” Lovett said. “Penn State is Penn State, everybody knows about Penn State. After my last season at Baylor, coach [Matt] Rhule accepted a head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers, then we got hit with a rough COVID year and were shaky, and I decided to hit the transfer portal and God led me here.”
With Lovett joining the team, that was just the second piece of the puzzle. Ford and Lee had already established themselves as key backs in Seider’s rotation. Ford took his lumps last season, as well, but also had his triumphs. He had more carries, going from 52 his freshman year to 67 his sophomore season, but his rushing yards dropped from 294 to 274 and his touchdowns stayed steady at three.
Ford, a junior, had a number of the challenges at his feet last season and he feels that it thoroughly prepared him going forward. His determination was the focal point during his offseason.
“[I had to] keep getting better every single day,” Ford said. “That’s all it is. Each day that I step on the field, I have to get one percent better. That’s just watching the little things, spending a little bit more time in the weight room, that’s a little bit more time with meditating or being at home and getting extra sleep.”
Then, there was Cain. Cain is expected to be the starter heading into the season. He had 443 rushing yards and eight touchdowns as a true freshman. After missing eight games last year due to his injury, the junior running back attacked the offseason to regain his health.
He also paired his training with the mindset that he needed to work harder and be mentally sound.
“I’m 100 percent now,” Cain said. “I’ve just been working my tail off all summer trying to get back. It’s just been a blessing to be able to work back each week and notice my development. I give props to the guys behind me [other running backs] and the training staff for keeping me motivated. There were days that were discouraging and uncomfortable, but it’s bigger than me. So, I’ve just been trying to give this team everything I’ve got.”
While whether someone can break out the way Barkley, Sanders or Brown did remains to be seen, Seider’s hope is that with everyone healthy and the added depth with Lovett this season, that this group can regain the cohesiveness that the 2019 group had and continue Penn State’s success at running back.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:41 PM.
