Penn State’s Ja’Juan Seider explains message to Noah Cain, struggling running backs

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State entered the 2021 season with high hopes for its ground game. The backfield featured five running backs with experience. The offensive line returned three starters. The rushing attack looked like it could be the backbone of the Nittany Lions offense, especially after quarterback Sean Clifford struggled last season.

That hasn’t been the case. Through eight games, Penn State ranks No. 12 in the Big Ten and No. 114 nationally in rushing offense at 108.1 yards per game. The Nittany Lions rank No. 117 nationally at 3.27 yards per carry.

Junior Noah Cain, sophomore Keyvone Lee, fifth-year senior John Lovett and junior Devyn Ford haven’t been able to build any consistency. Sophomore Caziah Holmes barely has seen the field. The group’s position coach is well-aware of the team’s struggles, and he pointed to the entire operation as reasons for the struggles.

“I mean, it’s the whole team,” running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said Thursday. “It’s all of us on offense. Coaches, players, it’s all of us. You guys watch the film, you guys see what’s going on. You guys are smart, guys and girls, so you know what’s going on.”

There were plenty of high expectations for Cain entering this season. His sophomore season ended on the opening drive of the year because of an injury, and that came after a freshman season in which he flashed at times but also dealt with injuries.

In August, Cain said he was healthy and more mature, and he was ready to emerge as the Nittany Lions’ top back. That hasn’t happened. Cain leads Penn State with 83 carries for 258 yards and four touchdowns, but his 3.1 yards per carry rank behind Lee, Ford and Lovett.

Cain hasn’t averaged more than 4 yards per carry in a game since he carried eight times for 48 yards against Wisconsin in the opener — 34 of those yards came on one carry, too — and he’s rushed for more than 50 yards just once this season.

“We had a long talk yesterday, me and Noah,” Seider said. “Sometimes you forget that the kid had a whole year off, and the expectations to come back and pick it right back up where he left off, even just from the Cotton Bowl [in 2019]. … So maybe the expectations and the pressure that he put on himself has been too much because there have been times when we look on the field and he looks like that guy.

“I go back to the Wisconsin game, the first half, you can tell it was mentally in his head and the second half, really the second half, he took over that game, was a big reason why we won that game. You go back to the Auburn game. He played well. Maybe not a lot of stats, but he played well.”

Seider acknowledged Penn State could be in a different position than its current 5-3 record entering Saturday’s game at Maryland if the running game could find its footing. Over the three game losing streak, the Lions have combined to gain 202 yards on the ground, a number that includes sacks.

A couple first downs at Iowa, a couple yards against Illinois, a big play broken at Ohio State and things might look different.

Cain is a talented enough runner to make things like that happen. He rushed for 443 yards on 5.3 yards per carry and scored eight touchdowns as a freshman, and he had the reputation as a straight-ahead runner who was always driving his legs.

“What I challenged him is you got to get out of this fog of thinking of other things and trying to be the reason why everything got to click for us,” Seider said. “We don’t need you to be a superhero, we just need you to be Noah and being that guy who was one of the most efficient runners his freshman year because he always went forward. And if you get back to playing that way, it’s going to lead us in more positive yards and it’s going to give us more positive outcomes and then we can get the ball to you even more.”

Cain and the Penn State runners will have the chance to get back on track against a Maryland rushing defense that ranks No. 13 in the Big Ten and No. 79 nationally in allowing 161.0 yards per game. Each of the Terps’ past four opponents has all rushed for at least 145 yards and two touchdowns.

So there’s a chance for the Nittany Lions. And Seider knows that one game could help spring the group the rest of the way. Cain could be the catalyst. It might be Lee or even Lovett. But Seider realizes what kind of impact a rejuvenated ground game could have on the Penn State offense down the stretch.

“I think it’ll energize everybody: the running backs, the O-line, the tight ends because we’re all part of it. The receivers on the perimeter blocking,” Seider said.

“Listen, the one thing about this sport that we know that makes football greater than every other sport, it takes all 11 to do their job. If one guy doesn’t do their job, it can kill any play, and we see it over and over, not just Penn State, but all over the country.

“So we’re just trying to get all 11 to play [as one] and if we do that, we know good things are going to happen. You guys have seen it with your own eyes, you know what type of backs we have. If these guys get an opportunity, good things are going to happen for them, so that’s what I keep preaching as a coach. You haven’t forgotten how to play the game.”