Under Kirk Ciarrocca, pass catching is an emphasis for Penn State's RBs
In an offense that new coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca likes to compare to a symphony, Penn State's running backs will be asked to learn a new tune.
Ciarrocca will ask the players in the Nittany Lions' backfield to become a more active part of the passing game this season, according to Journey Brown and Noah Cain, who both said they've spent healthy portions of the offseason working on that aspect of their game.
"[Ciarrocca] wants us to catch the ball out of the backfield, run routes more, and just become more of a receiving back," Cain said Thursday morning. "It's only a plus for you to help your game. The running back room, we've been working on that non-stop this whole offseason, and really pretty much all of our practices we've been working on that."
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As exciting as Penn State's group of running backs was in 2019, their production in the receiving game was far from prolific.
Brown had 134 receiving yards to lead the position group, and even that was only good enough for the 98th-largest total among FBS running backs a year ago.
Receiving production among Penn State's running backs has been inconsistent since Saquon Barkley left in 2017, after he led the nation with 625 receiving yards out of the backfield.
Even Miles Sanders — who proved himself to be a more than capable receiving back in the NFL when he accumulated 509 yards through the air in his rookie season with the Eagles — didn't produce much in the passing game under Ricky Rahne. As Penn State's lead back in 2018, he had just 139 receiving yards on 24 catches.
Though some might view Cain as a back who does his best work between the tackles, he says he welcomes the idea of getting involved in other ways.
"I've never had a problem catching the ball out of the backfield," Cain said. "That's never been a thing. But when he's asking me to become more of a receiver, that's something I've been trying to learn and get better at this whole offseason."
For Brown, Cain, and the rest of Penn State's running back room, that has meant a greater emphasis on route-running and learning how to create mismatches for an opposing defense.
Brown, who had four drops on 20 targets last season, said he's been catching so many balls from the jugs machine that his hands have started hurting. He's also turned to his teammates for help.
"[I've been] getting with Pat Freiermuth and Jahan [Dotson] and learning how to run routes differently, learn how to break defenders down and just up my game," he said.
It's worth noting that Brown had more receiving yards than any Minnesota running back did last season in Ciarrocca's offense. Lead back Rodney Smith had only 70 yards on 7 receptions a year ago for the Gophers.
But Ciarrocca said Wednesday that one of his objectives is to create opportunities for his best players to break off explosive plays. With a backfield loaded with gamebreakinig talent and athleticism, involving the running backs in the passing game could make the difference for Penn State's offense.
"I feel like it's going to open this up," Brown said. "I feel like a lot of the running backs we have, we're not just the traditional running back, just pound it down, just run down, just get the ball and run...I feel like that's going to open us up, and have us be against the linebackers or whoever. I feel like we're going to be very versatile this year and be able to take our running back group to the next level."
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