STATE COLLEGE — Penn State running back Noah Cain has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to multiple reports.
Cain entered the 2021 season atop Penn State’s running back depth chart, but he battled injury and ineffectiveness to finish the season with 350 yards on 3.3 yards per carry and four touchdowns. On3 first reported Cain’s entrance into the transfer portal, and the report was later confirmed by Lions247 and The Athletic.
Cain was a junior in 2021, and he’ll have multiple years of eligibility remaining.
Cain showed promise as a freshman in 2019 when he rushed 84 times for 443 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. After Journey Brown’s medical retirement ahead of the 2020 season, Cain was poised to carry the load, but he suffered a season-ending injury on his third carry of the season in the opener at Indiana.
2019 4-star RB Noah Cain entered the transfer portal after rushing for 806 yards and 12 TD during his time with Penn State @PennStateRivals @rivalsmike https://t.co/G6tJmmRv5J
— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) January 12, 2022
Cain returned in 2021 and returned to the top of the depth chart, and he showed an initial return to form with eight carries for 48 yards and a touchdown at Wisconsin. But Cain — and the Penn State running game as a whole — struggled to build any consistency on the ground. At one point, coach James Franklin acknowledged that Cain was dealing with an injury, too.
The Baton Rouge, La., native showed some burst in the Outback Bowl when he carried five times for 28 yards in the 24-10 loss to Arkansas.
Cain is a former four-star recruit out of IMG Academy (Fla.) in the 247Sports composite rankings, and the 5-foot-10, 220-pounder was ranked as the No. 6 running back in the country.
No problem for Noah Cain ????
He gives @PennStateFball the first TD of the game ???? pic.twitter.com/jFW6XWIml5
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 9, 2021
The picture in Penn State’s running back room is beginning to come into a little more focus. Baylor transfer John Lovett didn’t play in the Outback Bowl and is out of college eligibility, but the Nittany Lions were poised to return Cain, Devyn Ford, Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes. Plus, four-star recruits Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen enrolled early for spring practice.
Lee was Penn State’s leading rusher with 530 yards on 4.9 yards per carry and two touchdowns in 2021. Ford rushed for 61 yards on 4.4 yards per carry, while Holmes appeared in only three games in what was a redshirt season for him as a sophomore.
Singleton, who is ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 1 running back in the Class of 2022 by multiple recruiting services, and Allen, a top-150 prospect, both bring unique skill sets and talents into the fold for running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider.
