Cain carries confidence into uncertain second season with Nittany Lions
Noah Cain didn’t need much time to set expectations for himself.
A January enrollee in Penn State’s Class of 2019, the running back arrived with lofty goals coming off an accomplished stint at IMG Academy in Florida. But even then, the difference between “having some playing time” and realizing he could become a significant contributor to the Nittany Lions’ offense was substantial.
Once through spring practice, capping the session with a two-touchdown, 54-yard Blue-White Game performance, Cain said he believed he could play with anybody. Once he’d memorized the playbook, the dividends continued, noting he was able to see the game move at a slower pace. And once that pace slowed, he said, the door to immediate success had opened for him.
“I felt like, ‘All right, now it's time for me to try to earn a starting job and start playing my game like I was doing in high school,’” Cain told BWI this summer. “Once I got caught up with the offense, I was just expecting myself just to go in there, play early, and just earn my keep.”
He did so, and then some.
Penn State’s third tailback in a four-headed monster of Ricky Slade, Journey Brown, himself, and fellow true freshman Devyn Ford, Cain immediately cashed in with two touchdowns and 44 yards on nine carries in his career debut against Idaho. By the time the Nittany Lions’ three-game nonconference slate had wrapped, Cain had racked up 88 yards and four scores on just 16 carries.
To that point in the season, his production hadn’t been enough to create a clear separation to earn the starting nod or for more carries with his peers in the Penn State running backs’ room. Entering the Big Ten conference schedule still listed third behind Slade and Brown as “co-starters” on the depth chart, Cain would remain there despite a breakout 105-yard, one-touchdown performance in a win against Purdue and a critical 102-yard, one touchdown contribution in a win at Iowa in which he helped seal the decision with a commanding four-minute drill to close it out.
Already bringing confidence to the field as one of his strongest personality traits, Cain’s inner belief only grew stronger through the stretch of budding successes.
“Put it like this: Noah is confident. Very, very confident,” said Ford this spring. “So when he's on the field, that's his focus, that's all he's gonna do. That's just him, and you got to respect that. I respect that. That's Noah. He's gonna perfect his craft and be the best person he can be.”
That “best person” finally emerged as the coaching staff’s favorite by the time the 7-0 Nittany Lions arrived in East Lansing, Mich., to take on the Spartans before heading into a bye week in late-October. Leading the Nittany Lions in rushing to that point with 329 yards and six scores on just 62 carries, Cain was rewarded with his first career start at Michigan State.
The bubble burst on that rain-soaked Spartan Stadium field though when a late first-quarter ankle injury sidelined him for the remainder of the game. He wouldn’t appear again in either of Penn State’s next two games after the bye, at Minnesota or against Indiana, he had just one carry at Ohio State, and again he was sidelined completely for the regular-season finale against Rutgers.
Unceremoniously derailed from the height of his confidence, the setback was admittedly a challenge for Cain to handle both physically and, maybe more important, mentally.
“To finally get my first start and having a setback, an injury, that put me behind a few weeks. Next thing you know, it's two months and I can't get back until the bowl game,” Cain said. “So I was climbing that ladder but also had adversity. There were highlights but also a learning experience for me just to understand the highs and lows of college football. It was definitely a humbling experience.”
Finally returning to a feature role in the Nittany Lions’ offensive explosion in a 53-39 Cotton Bowl win against Memphis on Dec. 29, Cain broke through for two touchdowns and 92 yards on 15 carries. A return to form running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider had always anticipated through the injury layoff, it marked a jumping-off point for the true freshman heading into the offseason.
“It was him just getting healthy, being back the guy that we saw early in the year,” Seider said. “You get those nicks and muscles, sometimes they take a long time to heal. It's just a process, especially with a kid who's as powerful as he is and runs the way he does and he just took the time to get healed. I think getting him back in the bowl game got his confidence back.”
With the Big Ten’s fall season postponed indefinitely, the question now is what becomes of that confidence.
Prevented from practicing this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cain and the rest of the Nittany Lions returned this summer for informal workouts that eventually built into the start of preseason practices in August. Halting preseason camp just days into the process thanks to the decision of the Big Ten presidents and chancellors, though, the program is left to continue its NCAA-mandated 12-hours-a-week model of lifting, film study, position meetings, and on-field instruction.
Holding out hope for a truncated season still within the fall timeframe, or even in January, Cain will hope to continue to progress along the trajectory of what he’d already started this spring. A strong candidate to become one of the defining faces of Penn State's offense, especially given the uncertain futures for other veteran playmakers now weighing whether to return to the Nittany Lions if a season doesn't commence until the new year, it's a trajectory the program will count on seeing continue.
“I feel I understand the game better, more than I ever have before, just sort of slowing down to me,” Cain said. “Of course with the new offense we're learning, that's just another learning curve. We're learning Coach Ciarrocca's new language and his style of play and how he wants us to run a ball and catch the ball out of the backfield. It's a learning curve, but at the same time, I feel like this new offense that we're coming into, it is going to benefit the run game, benefit all of us in the backfield.
“I'm excited just to have a year under my belt. The game is finally starting to slow down for me and understanding the Xs and Os and everything.”
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