Penn State’s Noah Cain ‘just feeling blessed’ after return to field, game-winning touchdown

STATE COLLEGE — Noah Cain had plenty on his mind when Penn State kicked off its 2021 season at Wisconsin on Saturday. The junior running back’s hometown of Baton Rouge, La., was in the path of Hurricane Ida, and his relatives’ homes had been damaged in the storm. On top of that, Cain was returning to action after his 2020 season was cut short after three carries.

Cain’s emotions covered a wide range as he suited up for the Nittany Lions against a stingy Badgers defense.

In the end, Cain left Camp Randall Stadium in a jovial and celebratory mood. His aunt and cousins made the trip from Louisiana to join his parents for the game. And Cain scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown in a narrow 16-10 victory as part of an eight-carry, 48-yard day that also featured five catches for 27 yards.

“I’m just feeling blessed right now,” Cain said over Zoom on Tuesday morning. “I’m feeling really relieved, just coming out of that first game healthy and with that being my first start, just a lot of energy, just a lot of emotions coming out of that game. It was just a blessing to be a part of that type of win. It was just a great atmosphere just to be a part of and just for our defense to have our backs for that many possessions, and then we still come out on top, it was just a great overall team win.”

During his freshman year in 2019, Cain showed he could be the type of powerful, consistent running back who could salt away games in the fourth quarter. And after a virtually nonexistent 2020 season because of a leg injury in the season opener, a healthy and rejuvenated Cain flashed some of that form again against Wisconsin.

Penn State’s offense struggled mightily in the first half of action, and Cain went more than two-and-a-half quarters without a carry at one point, But in the fourth quarter, Cain carried six times for 45 yards and a touchdown, and he caught two passes for 29 yards. He was ready.

“I think you guys know at the end of Noah’s freshman year, he may have been the most efficient running back in the country,” Penn State coach James Franklin said Saturday in Madison, Wis. “He just has a way to slip arm tackles, to get positive yards, some of those plays late in the game on the sideline in the passing game and in the running game where he broke a tackle and got extra yards were huge for us, so that’ll be something to build on.”

During his freshman season, the former four-star recruit out of IMG Academy (Fla.) carried 84 times for 443 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns with seven catches for 52 yards. Cain almost equaled his career receiving total during Saturday’s game alone, and he said it was the result of work with the JUGS machine this offseason.

As he recovered from his injury, Cain re-dedicated himself to his preparation. He changed how he ate, how he slept and how he worked out. He also started studying more NFL players, including how they prepared for games. Cain highlighted Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns, Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints and Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers as pro running backs he took a sharper interest in.

Cain even had the opportunity to work out with Elliott this offseason through his Dallas-based trainer Josh Hicks, but Cain had a Spanish II test he needed to take.

“Just guys that are at the top of their craft right now, at the top of the league, just balling, and honestly just seeing how they run the ball is really just watching different YouTube clips on them, seeing how they prepare and what that mental is like,” Cain said. “So all those different things have really just benefited me and helped me get back to where I am right now.”

Cain acknowledged that in the past, he might have grown frustrated when he went from the 8:50 mark of the first quarter to the 13:31 mark of the fourth quarter without a carry. But his time away from the game while he rehabbed his injury helped give him a different perspective on things. He didn’t pout on the sideline. He just knew he needed to be ready.

And when Cain finally got that carry in the early part of the fourth quarter, he took it 34 yards through the right side of the Penn State line as part of an impressive second half for the offense.

Even through everything happening both in Madison and a thousand miles away in Baton Rouge, Cain had his focus where he needed to be. And after safeties Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown preserved Penn State’s win with a pair of interceptions, Cain got to see those he cared about most.

“It was a surreal moment with all that’s going on in the world right now,” Cain said. “For my aunt and cousin, my dad, to make it up to the game amidst the hurricane and all that, it was just a blessing to see them after the game and be able to celebrate, that brief moment I had with them. It was just exciting for me to be able to go out there and play the game that I love again and for my mom, dad and the rest of my family to be in the stands, it was an unreal moment, something I’ll always remember and never forget.”