Frustrated by performance, Penn State running backs vow improvement

Noah Cain didn’t deny the reality of Penn State’s running backs room this season.

Returning one of the more experienced groups on the team, the Nittany Lions struggled to find their collective footing on the ground. And through a regular-season worth of work, that manifested itself as the nation’s No. 118-ranked rushing offense at just 107.6 yards per game. 

The lowest output on the ground since Penn State’s sanction-riddled 2014 season, notching 101.9 yards per game with a ranking of 117th, the entirety of the group emerged unsatisfied. 

“We’re all competitors and we are all trying to be the best at what we do,” Cain said. “We knew how we finished the year, it wasn’t to our standard. We had to be better.”

The numbers reflect as much.

Failing to break the 100-yard threshold as a team in seven games, with no individual topping the number all season, the Nittany Lions produced just 3.1 yards per carry. Even adjusted for sacks, Penn State dropped 32 times for 193 yards in losses, the 377 other carries went for just 3.7 yards per touch.

Among the running backs, Keyvone Lee’s emergence late in the season put him atop the stat page with 495 yards gained and two touchdowns on 104 attempts. Cain finished a notch below at 322 yards gained on 101 attempts with four scores, followed by John Lovett’s 177 yards on 52 carries. 

With Cain’s continued recovery from a season-ending foot injury sustained in 2020, plus injuries to Lovett and Ford that limited their participation in a combined seven games, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich acknowledged a combination of shortcomings and obstacles through the year.

“Our run game needs to improve,” he said. “Some time off is going to help you recuperate and regenerate your body and heal up as long as you do it the right way. And our strength and training and our Sports Science Department have a great handle on the volume of workload and when to recover, how to recover and all that. So they’re in great hands there. 

“We’ll reap the benefits of having some off time. And then we’ll see what improvements we can make and we’ll find out when we line up against Arkansas here shortly.”

Asked to put his diagnosis on Penn State’s problems, and whether or not they were collectively close or far from the production they’d wanted, Cain pointed to each facet of the Nittany Lion offense.

Saying it “takes all 11 people on the field,” the redshirt sophomore insisted improvement must be made in the running backs room, up front, and throughout the offense.

“I think it came down to trust just from up front and the running back room as well,” Cain said. “We left runs out there this year, but as the season started and kept going on, I think we had a lot of miscommunication which was throwing the run game off. We had the opportunities there, we just had to be better as a whole unit.”

Determined to convert the season’s frustrations into a positive, Cain continued, saying that this month’s bowl practices offer an opportunity to start that progress toward improvement. 

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“It was frustrating for the whole running back room because we are used to bigger results and big plays. But at the same time, we tried to keep the right mindset and attitude about the season, trying to get better,” he said. “Some things we can’t control. But at the end of the day, it’s just about keeping the right mindset and attitude. I felt like, we were always there ready to make the plays when our number was called. It wasn’t easy at all, trying to get certain guys coming in new roles and guys hurt throughout the season. So, we had a lot of moving pieces that I think we were able to build that chemistry to our best. 

“None of us are satisfied with how things went last year. We need to capitalize and get better from it. You can’t change the past, you can only grow and get better. We are all competitors and we’re all trying to be the best at our craft. So we have to have a gut check, look at ourselves in the mirror, find out who we want to be.

“I think that’s what we have been doing these past few weeks since the last game was just really having a truthful moment with ourselves and asking ourselves, what can we be better at? Just be honest and hold ourselves accountable. We’re just trying to find the places that we can capitalize and grow to make us the best backs and the best backfield room in the country. So honestly, it comes down to accountability, honestly with yourself. I just think all of us are gonna grow from it and do better from it.”