James Franklin looks for more consistency from Penn State's running backs
At the running back position, Penn State head coach James Franklin thinks his team has "a lot left in the tank."
Franklin, offering his assessment of his running back room on Wednesday night, explained that his group of ball carriers has a bit more to give as the Nittany Lions march toward the conclusion of spring practice this weekend.
"I think, as a group in general, we still need to be a little bit more consistent," Franklin said.
"You could make the argument that that's also exciting because, they've shown flashes. But it's all about consistency, day-in, day-out, when opportunities arise, being able to maximize them."
The picture at running back heading into spring ball was quite complex.
The Nittany Lions' roster currently carries five running backs who have played significant snaps at the highest levels college football has to offer, and Penn State has offered little in the way of public clues this spring as to how the depth chart might sort itself out.
Noah Cain, who is participating in some activities, but is not taking live snaps, came into last season as the presumptive talisman following Journey Brown's medical retirement.
His season ended due to injury after just five snaps in 2020, opening the door for Keyvone Lee, Devyn Ford and Caziah Holmes to get more carries than they could have been expecting.
Of those three, Lee was the greatest revelation, eventually claiming the lion's share of the carries and finishing his first season on campus with 438 rushing yards and four touchdowns to his name.
Entering that mix this spring is John Lovett, a transfer from Baylor who started 20 games for the Bears over four seasons and has more rushing yards (1,803) than the other four running backs previously mentioned — combined.
"He brings a lot of energy to the room," Ford said of Lovett this week. "He brings a lot more of just an edge, you know what I'm saying? That toughness that we need. That's going to help us out a lot."
"I think he's going to bring some explosion to the offense," running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider said earlier this spring. "You can tell he's a guy who played a lot of games. Now he's just trying to find his way.
"The good thing is we're starting a new system, that all guys are going to learn at the same time. With him being in the Big 12, he's been a part of one of these offenses a little bit, so he's going to have a good background of picking the stuff up that we're doing now."
When it comes to carries in a Penn State uniform, though, Ford is actually the most experienced member of the room.
He's accumulated 119 carries over his first two years as a Nittany Lion, rushing for 568 yards and six touchdowns, mostly in a reserve role.
In many ways, Franklin's assessment of Ford mirrors his thoughts on the running backs as a whole as things stand. Franklin said Wednesday that he's seen flashes from Ford in practice, much like Penn State fans have seen in games.
"I'm seeing Devyn do good things more often and more consistently, but still not where we need it to be," he said.
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