Penn State RB room = what is their condition?

[blion72]

run game is struggling partly due to OL but also our RB room has turned out different than most thought. what do you think is wrong?

• Noah Cain - not even close to what he was in early 2019. He actually looked batter v Wisconsin than he does now.
• K Lee - seems to be okay on some runs, but cannot get past the second level.
• John Lovett - I was hoping he would be home run, shows some flash at times but no home runs. His Baylor film looked exciting, but have not seen any runs that looked like that.
• Devyn Ford - a few good plays but nothing big. Have not seen him recently playing.
• Coziah Homles - 4* supposed to be a home run......but not much playing time. Now hear he may be red shirted, so I guess that means he is not showing much.

So a RB room that looked to be the envy of other schools has come up kind of empty.

 

[hapval8286]

It seems like PSU is without that back who has a combination of fast twitch speed, top end speed, some power and good vision. I saw some holes in replays that just weren't hit by the backs. Barkley, Sanders and Brown all had a combination of those elements plus could catch pretty. It made them dangerous downfield, too. It's just not on the roster right now. Hopefully, Singleton will have the tools needed to be a game changing back in a year or two.

 

[PrtLng Lion]

I think our OL's in ability to block consistently makes it hard to give a true evaluation. But yeah, haven't seen many big plays, or even getting past the front 7. Both Cain in 2019 and Lee last year gave me hope that at least we'd get forward positive yardage on most plays, but it hasn't materialized into anything better. Lovett looks like he may have more potential but between splitting the carries and not breaking many tackles, hasn't been the playmaker I had hoped.

 

[hapval8286]

I think our OL's in ability to block consistently makes it hard to give a true evaluation. But yeah, haven't seen many big plays, or even getting past the front 7. Both Cain in 2019 and Lee last year gave me hope that at least we'd get forward positive yardage on most plays, but it hasn't materialized into anything better. Lovett looks like he may have more potential but between splitting the carries and not breaking many tackles, hasn't been the playmaker I had hoped.

To me, Lovett still seems hesitant with his runs. He just never seems to be decisive when he gets the ball. I wonder if it's poor o-line run blocking or the B10 has faster/better defenses than the B12 had.

 

[Nitt1300]

Lee looks to me to be the best of a very average group. Now if somebody says that they knew this group wouldn't be better, I'd call that bull s hit.

 

[blion72]

To me, Lovett still seems hesitant with his runs. He just never seems to be decisive when he gets the ball. I wonder if it's poor o-line run blocking or the B10 has faster/better defenses than the B12 had.

Cain is still getting the most reps even though something is clearly wrong with him. in the Wisconsin game I was encouraged, but he actually looks worse now.

 

[ManassasPSU]

Tough running behind the offense line. None of the backs break tackles when they get hit.

 

[Bison13]

Even when lovett took the swing pass on the outside he didn't lower his shoulder and try and get a couple extra yards or even turn inside he went for the sideline. Lee has poor vision and isnt a great blocker, cain can do both of those things, he is just soooooo slow and unable to make people miss.

 

[Whart]

Even when lovett took the swing pass on the outside he didn't lower his shoulder and try and get a couple extra yards or even turn inside he went for the sideline. Lee has poor vision and isnt a great blocker, cain can do both of those things, he is just soooooo slow and unable to make people miss.

Bison….I agree 100% on the very play you noted ( and on several more) our backs head for the sideline without any thought or instinct to cut their run inside ….away from the sideline and possibly gain a few more yards . They actually make it simple for the corner or LB to defend the play. The sideline then becomes an extra defender. Finally….SB made a living on executing the “ wheel route”…..nobody in our current backfield has the speed to do so.

 

[Big_O]

It seems like Cain has lost a step after his injury, and maybe he is still not 100%. None of the RB’s appear to have great vision. Holes are missed consistently. I think the RB’s are just running to where the holes are supposed to be and then plow right into the morass at the LOS, but maybe its because freelancing is not allowed by the coaching staff, something that SB did frequently. Also, maybe the current RB’s just don’t have the quickness and agility needed to suddenly change direction in order to run to daylight.

 

[tml132]

It seems like Cain has lost a step after his injury, and maybe he is still not 100%. None of the RB’s appear to have great vision. Holes are missed consistently. I think the RB’s are just running to where the holes are supposed to be and then plow right into the morass at the LOS, but maybe its because freelancing is not allowed by the coaching staff, something that SB did frequently. Also, maybe the current RB’s just don’t have the quickness and agility needed to suddenly change direction in order to run to daylight.

Agree with alot of the comments here regarding the OL and running backs, but I also think it’s possibly also scheme + cliffords injury. The RPO scheme requires that the QB can handoff, pull the ball out and run it himself, or throw. The issue is our RPO is very slow developing getting to the mesh point. Worse than most teams in my opinion. Couple that with that most defenses know that Clifford is not going to run it, and the defense can just blitz the mesh point and key on the RB. With a below average OL, those defenders are in the backfield before our RBs can get the ball plus start running forward.

As a result most of our run plays are doomed from the start.

Given the issues we have, how about a toss sweep, or a straight handoff with a lead blocker? I guess we just don’t have those in the playbook.

 

[Phlebitis]

It seems like Cain has lost a step after his injury, and maybe he is still not 100%. None of the RB’s appear to have great vision. Holes are missed consistently. I think the RB’s are just running to where the holes are supposed to be and then plow right into the morass at the LOS, but maybe its because freelancing is not allowed by the coaching staff, something that SB did frequently. Also, maybe the current RB’s just don’t have the quickness and agility needed to suddenly change direction in order to run to daylight.

I agree with every point you made. There were many creases and even occasionally huge openings yet the backs often just ran right in to back of their blockers or to the wrong side. Whether that is a lack of vision, cutting ability or coaches forcing them to stick to the script I don’t really know but there are clear running lanes they are not hitting. That was very obvious and disappointing yesterday.

 

[psuno1]

Its hard to run the ball when your getting tackled a yard in the backfield.

 

[Nohow]

Lee is the best rb, at least at rushing. This was also true last year.

 

[Cabinpenn]

Just dropping in to see what condition their condition is in, eh.

 

[blion72]

Agree with alot of the comments here regarding the OL and running backs, but I also think it’s possibly also scheme + cliffords injury. The RPO scheme requires that the QB can handoff, pull the ball out and run it himself, or throw. The issue is our RPO is very slow developing getting to the mesh point. Worse than most teams in my opinion. Couple that with that most defenses know that Clifford is not going to run it, and the defense can just blitz the mesh point and key on the RB. With a below average OL, those defenders are in the backfield before our RBs can get the ball plus start running forward.

As a result most of our run plays are doomed from the start.

Given the issues we have, how about a toss sweep, or a straight handoff with a lead blocker? I guess we just don’t have those in the playbook.

I think your view gets to a lot of our issues. when the other side knows Sean is not going to run, that just makes it worse. essentially, if Kenneth Walker had transferred to PSU vs MSU, it would not have made much difference. It might add a few more yards in run game, but his name would not be in the Heisman race.

also, we have 3 guys who are supposed to be the "speed" RBs = Ford, Holmes and Lovett. I am not sure what their flat out speed is, but none have broken the big run. Lee has the longest run of the year.

 

[bbrown]

run game is struggling partly due to OL but also our RB room has turned out different than most thought. what do you think is wrong?

• Noah Cain - not even close to what he was in early 2019. He actually looked batter v Wisconsin than he does now.
• K Lee - seems to be okay on some runs, but cannot get past the second level.
• John Lovett - I was hoping he would be home run, shows some flash at times but no home runs. His Baylor film looked exciting, but have not seen any runs that looked like that.
• Devyn Ford - a few good plays but nothing big. Have not seen him recently playing.
• Coziah Homles - 4* supposed to be a home run......but not much playing time. Now hear he may be red shirted, so I guess that means he is not showing much.

So a RB room that looked to be the envy of other schools has come up kind of empty.

Hmmm. Ok I think Cain is still hurt but I thought this was his best game since Wiscy.
Lee is fine. He's not a fast back so stop using him like it and give him more than 8 carries a game. He looked like he was ready to take over a few times yesterday and they just stopped feeding him the ball.
Agree about Lovett. His play on the firs series was horrible but if Clifford would have hit him later on he might have taken it for big yardage.
I guess Ford is still hurt.
Holmes is being RS'rd but I think he could still play in 2 more games. In hindsight I think they misused him. They waited too long for someone to take over the RB room and it never happened.

 

[bbrown]

Bison….I agree 100% on the very play you noted ( and on several more) our backs head for the sideline without any thought or instinct to cut their run inside ….away from the sideline and possibly gain a few more yards . They actually make it simple for the corner or LB to defend the play. The sideline then becomes an extra defender. Finally….SB made a living on executing the “ wheel route”…..nobody in our current backfield has the speed to do so.

Parker Washington could. I would love to see them use him like that.