Blue White Illustrated

S P R I N G P R A C T I C E W R A P Cain makes impression in PSU's spring game | depth that the team has been building ever since Barkley began catching the eye of would-be tailback recruits. In addition to Brown and Slade, both of whom will have sophomore eligibility this coming season, they have three newcomers set to see their first carries this year: true fresh- men Noah Cain and Devyn Ford and Notre Dame transfer C.J. Holmes. Except for Ford, who has yet to arrive on campus, all of those ball carriers saw ac- tion in the Blue-White Game. If there was a breakout star, it was Cain, who played for both teams and finished with 45 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He also caught an 8-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Franklin had said earlier in the spring that Slade and Brown, the most experi- enced of the team's running backs, had created some separation between them- selves and the newcomers. And while that may have been the case, the 5-10, 209- pound Cain sure looked like he was catching up fast in the spring game. He appears to have the strength to be a bruis- ing between-the-tackles runner, and the hands to be a receiving threat coming out of the backfield. Franklin said afterward he was impressed with the decisiveness Cain showed in his first appearance in Beaver Stadium. "He stuck his foot in the ground and got downhill. A lot of times his runs aren't overly sexy, but he's just breaking tackles and falling forward and is very productive," Franklin said. "He had N oah Cain's 8-yard touchdown recep- tion in the fourth quarter of the Blue- White Game announced an arrival of sorts. Only on Penn State's campus for three months, the early enrollee running back reeled in Sean Cli

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