Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Plethora of running backs pleasant headache for PSU
Ja’Juan Seider spent many restless nights in late August and early September trying to figure out how to divide playing time for Penn State’s top four running backs.
Seider, the Nittany Lions backfield coach, has sought to be fair to sophomores Journey Brown and Ricky Slade, and freshmen Noah Cain and Devyn Ford, all highly recruited players.
“It’s better now than it was the first couple weeks,” her said Wednesday. “I couldn’t sleep. It was me kicking my butt.”
Seider sought advice from offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne and head coach James Franklin, but said he’s rarely seen a situation where four running backs saw significant playing time for one team.
“It’s hard, man,” he said. “I can’t sugarcoat it. When it’s three, it’s easy. When you have a starter and a true No. 2, you can get the starter more reps. The No. 3 guy may get a series here or a series there. Three’s a lot easier, trust me.
“Four is tricky. When you’re playing four, the guy who starts is waiting and waiting. As a coach, I have to be fair. If a kid has earned the right to play, he deserves to play.”
Brown has started the last two games and leads Penn State in rushing with 21 carries for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Ford is second (12 for 117, two TDs), followed by Cain (16-86, four TDs) and Slade (12-21, one TD), who started the opener.
Ford rushed for 107 yards against Idaho, and Brown had 109 yards two weeks ago against Pittsburgh.
“It still is a juggling act,” Seider said. “You go to Game 1, and everybody thought Devyn Ford was the guy. You go to Game 2, and Journey was the guy. Game 3, Journey rushed for 100 yards and everybody said Noah should be the guy.
“The best thing about it is that it makes it competitive every day. They know that if they don’t bring their A game to practice, they could be in jeopardy of losing an opportunity.”
Cain was effective on Penn State’s 88-yard drive in the third quarter against Pitt, carrying six times for 40 yards and catching a pass for 13 yards. He finished it with a 13-yard touchdown run. Earlier in the game, Brown dashed 85 yards to set up a touchdown.
Slade averaged 5.7 yards a carry and ran for six touchdowns last season as the primary backup for Miles Sanders, but he’s struggled so far with a long gain of five yards this campaign.
“A lot of times it’s the luck of the draw,” Seider said. “He’ll be the first one to tell you that he’d like to have more yards. The only thing that’s disappointed me with Ricky was when he had the fumble (against Buffalo). He knew it and he responded.”
With Cain enrolling in January and participating in spring practice, Seider thought Penn State might have a three-back rotation this season. Then Ford enrolled in June.
“In a perfect world I’d like to play three and hold a guy,” Seider said. “Devyn came right in and picked things up. Not only the coaches saw it, but the players saw it. That threw a wrench into our plans. He came here ready to play. He made a lot of noise in camp.
“He can do things normal guys can’t do. He can do things that are unhuman.”
So, when the Lions (3-0) face Maryland (2-1) in a Big Ten opener Friday night at 8 (TV-FS1) in College Park, they plan to use four running backs again.
“We’re going to play all four of those guys until somebody separates himself from the group,” Franklin said. “We’re comfortable playing all four because we think all four can play.”