Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
KEY PERSONNEL Journey Brown*, Noah
Cain*, Devyn Ford, Caziah Holmes,
Keyvone Lee, Tank Smith
LOSS Ricky Slade*
RISING STAR Holmes, a four-star true
freshman from Titusville, Fla., is the
;rst Penn State running back to wear
jersey No. 26 since Saquon Barkley
headed to the NFL a>er the 2017 season.
It would be entirely unfair to burden any
freshman with Barkley-sized expecta-
tions, but Holmes is an elite prospect
who could easily ;nd his way onto the
;eld this year as part of a quartet of ball
carriers, and also as a potential kick-re-
turn specialist.
BIGGEST LOSS The Lions' only loss in
the back;eld is Slade, who entered the
transfer portal in February. The former
four-star prospect from Woodbridge, Va.,
had gone into his sophomore season as
the starter at running back, but he slipped
behind Brown and Cain as the season
went on and ;nished with only 47 carries
for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He
also had 12 catches for 105 yards, but it
wasn't enough to keep him in University
Park. In June, Slade announced plans to
enroll at Old Dominion, where he will be
reunited with former Penn State o=ensive
coordinator Ricky Rahne, now the head
coach of the Monarchs.
NUMBERS GAME Brown's average of
68.5 yards per game was sixth in the Big
Ten last season. But among the league's
top 10 ball carriers, he was second in
yards per attempt with an average of 6.9,
trailing only Maryland's Javon Leake,
who averaged 7.2 yards.
OUTLOOK Penn State has too many
good running backs. As problems go,
that's a good one to have. But make no
mistake, it does pose some challenges.
Brown leads the way among the return-
ing RBs, coming o= a monster 202-yard
Cotton Bowl performance and a ;ve-
game stretch to ;nish the season that
turned him into a nationally prominent
player. Cain, a true freshman early en-
rollee a season ago, was so good that he
eventually earned his ;rst start at Michi-
gan State, only to see it unravel with a
;rst-quarter injury that would force him
out for the rest of the regular season. And
Ford, a true freshman who arrived last
June, was simply too talented to keep on
the sideline. Earning playing time in 12
games, he dazzled with his 81-yard
touchdown run against Idaho and dis-
played