Penn State football: 5 Nittany Lions that are key to victory over Iowa

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 05: Micah Parsons #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts after recording a sack against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on October 5, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

5 of 6

STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 05: Noah Cain #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions is tackled by Cory Trice #23 of the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on October 5, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

4. Noah Cain, RB

We all know that Penn State’s offensive playmaker KJ Hamler is a threat when he’s on the field, but that’s exactly who Iowa will have their eyes on. Meanwhile, Penn State should be looking to feed the hot hand out of the backfield.

As we know, the hot hand happens to be the freshman, Noah Cain. Over the last few weeks, multiple Penn State rushers have emerged as they have all received a fair share of carries. Each had their flashes during that time, but none of them have flashed as Noah Cain has.

Cain can be a pure workhorse back with Penn State. He leads the entire Penn State backfield in carries with 35 total. Cain has accounted for 208 yards and has five touchdowns — the most out of all running backs on board. There were specific drives where we’ve seen Cain completely take over for the offense as they needed a spark. Perhaps, Penn State will attempt to offer Cain more carries to work with this weekend. James Franklin won’t commit to that, but you never know.

Home/Penn State Football