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Penn State football: 5 Players to watch vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

By Justin Grasso

STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 07: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions attempts a pass against the Buffalo Bulls during the first half at Beaver Stadium on September 07, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 07: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions attempts a pass against the Buffalo Bulls during the first half at Beaver Stadium on September 07, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 24: Ricky Slade #4 of the Penn State Nittany Lions scores a touchdown against the Maryland Terrapins during the second half at Beaver Stadium on November 24, 2018 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 24: Ricky Slade #4 of the Penn State Nittany Lions scores a touchdown against the Maryland Terrapins during the second half at Beaver Stadium on November 24, 2018 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

1. Ricky Slade, RB

Looking at the numbers, Penn State’s backfield has dominated through two weeks, but a majority of that success came against their week one opponent, Idaho. Every ‘starting’ running back in the committee had a pair of scores, which inflated the total numbers.

Truth be told, Penn State’s backfield wasn’t all that productive last week. Now, Lions’ head coach James Franklin made it clear that the struggles shouldn’t fall all on the running backs, and he’s correct. The offensive line needs to do their part as well.

However, that’s not to say that the backfield was doing all they could last week as well. There’s still plenty of time left to go this season, but so far Ricky Slade has been wildly underwhelming. As he was supposed to be the leader of the running back committee, Slade has been second to Journey Brown thus far, and even Noah Cain seems to be getting more work.

It seriously doesn’t help that Slade fumbled last week in the second half while the Lions were trying to formulate their comeback right off the bat. Since he made that mistake, Slade never saw the field for the remainder of the game. This week, he needs to turn it around, or else he may seriously get left behind and lose a good chunk of the workload.

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