Penn State Sports Magazine
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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> KEY PERSONNEL Journey Brown, Noah Cain, Devyn Ford, C.J. Holmes, Ricky Slade LOSSES Mark Allen, Miles Sanders*, Johnathan Thomas RISING STAR Almost anyone at this position group could qualify as a po- tential rising star; we've seen very little of any of them. So let's go with Cain, a January enrollee who had a lot of peo- ple talking a>er the Blue-White Game, including James Franklin. "He was de- cisive," Franklin said a>er watching the true freshman rush for 45 yards on 12 carries. "He stuck his foot in the ground and got downhill." BIGGEST LOSS While they do appear to have stockpiled a wealth of talent here, the coaches would likely have been happy to keep Sanders around for one more year – especially since the team is so young at the other skill positions. In his lone season as a starter, Sanders rushed for 1,274 yards to rank second in the Big Ten. Figuring that he'd done all he needed to do to earn a spot in the NFL Dra>, Sanders announced in Janu- ary that he was leaving school early. He :gured right. He was the :rst Penn Stater chosen in this year's dra>, going in the second round to Philadelphia. NUMBERS GAME Although he has only 257 yards at Penn State, Slade is the team's top returning rusher by a wide margin. Brown is next a>er rush- ing for 44 yards on eight carries as a redshirt freshman last season. Holmes, who last year transferred to PSU from Notre Dame, carried eight times for 32 yards in his true freshman season with the Irish. Cain and Ford have yet to see action. OUTLOOK This is another position group at which the Nittany Lions have lots of potential but almost no experi- ence. Slade only played in nine games as a true freshman, yet he's by far the most experienced of the prospective starters. Brown is the only other run- "It's still competitive in there," he said. "One guy is pushing another, and another guy is pushing the other, so it's never re- ally a dull moment in there, whether we're telling jokes or being serious about the game." Multiple candidates are competing for touches. Redshirt sophomore Journey Brown made ample strides over the past year, and Slade has seen them firsthand. "He's more of the speed guy," Slade said. "We all have different attributes that we bring." Then there's early enrollee Noah Cain, the leading rusher in the Blue-White Game. "Noah came in and he exceeded a lot of expectations," Slade said. "So we have a lot of weapons between all of our running backs." Additionally, Ford has joined the fold this summer. Their hometowns are less than a half-hour drive from each other in Virginia, and Ford and Slade have worked out under the same trainer for most of their high school careers. "He's my boy," Slade said. In order to best prepare himself for the competition ahead, Slade is working to add a few pounds and hopes to be pushing 207 by the fall. And healthy meals aren't the only thing he's been devouring lately; he's also studied more film than ever be- fore. "Coach [Ja'Juan] Seider has taught me a lot, and one of the things he's taught me is how to watch film, how to be critical, how to criticize yourself really hard to get better," Slade said. "Basically, you can watch the defense, watch what kind of fronts they bring, watch how when this linebacker blitzes what the rest of the de- fense looks like." The goal, then, is to avoid blows like the one he absorbed in practice last August and ensure that such moments are re- membered as rookie mistakes. "I look forward to building on my expe- rience of playing early," he said. "I had [difficulties] as a freshman reading the rotation of the defense. So that's what I look forward to working on more this sea- son, keeping my base tight, my legs un- derneath me and just reading the defense and seeing where it's coming from." ■ * Starting experience in 2018 SPOTLIGHT RUNNING BACKS RUNNING BACK NO NAME HT WT YEAR 3 Ricky Slade 5-9 203 So./So. 4 Journey Brown 5-11 206 Jr./So. 21 Noah Cain 5-10 209 Fr./Fr. 48 C.J. Holmes 6-0 210 Jr./So. – Devyn Ford 5-11 188 Fr./Fr. P H I L ' S T A K E Penn State is known as Linebacker U, but the way James Franklin has re- cruited over the past :ve years, the school's nickname could easily be Running Back U. Former four-star prospects Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders were selected early in the 2018 and '19 NFL dra>s, creating an opening for another four-star prospect, Ricky Slade. As a freshman last fall, Slade was Penn State's third-leading rusher with 257 yards. He's now the leading candidate to replace Sanders in the back:eld. There's not much game experience at this position group, but Franklin appears to be quite pleased with the overall depth he's as- sembled at the running back spot. Positioned behind Slade are Journey Brown, who has sub-4.4-second 40-yard speed, four-star January enrollee Noah Cain, four-star freshman Devyn Ford and Notre Dame transfer C.J. Holmes. Brown reportedly had a breakout spring practice, and Cain ended up being the star of the Blue-White Game. Even though the Lions have lost two very good players the past two years, the back:eld appears to be in good shape. ■ OR OR