Penn State running back Noah Cain transfers to LSU

Just hours after officially announcing his intentions to transfer from Penn State, former 4-star running back Noah Cain announced his decision to transfer to LSU.

Cain just wrapped up his junior season as a Nittany Lion, rushing for 350 yards on 106 attempts and finding the end zone four times, three of which came in the first three games of the season.

The IMG Academy product hails from Baton Rouge, La., so the decision to head to LSU is also one that puts him back in his hometown. Cain’s career in the blue and white was somewhat up and down, but during his freshman campaign he set a Penn State freshman record with eight rushing touchdowns.

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His stellar freshman season also included back-to-back 100-yard games, becoming the first Lions freshman to achieve that feat since Saquan Barkley in 2015. He capped off his campaign with a monster performance in Penn State’s Cotton Bowl victory over Memphis, rushing for 92 yards on only 15 touches and scoring twice.

On the first drive of his sophomore year, Cain suffered a season-ending injury. And although he returned for his junior year, he never found the same success as he did in 2019. Even when he came back as a junior, Cain couldn’t get into a rhythm, and wound up with fewer rushing attempts than Keyvone Lee.

Cain began to show flashes of his freshman-year self later in the season, though, and in the Outback Bowl against Arkansas, he had 28 yards rushing on only five carries, including a 16-yard run — his longest since Week 1 against Wisconsin.

After splitting carries with Lee, Cain should have the opportunity to compete for the lead-back role on Brian Kelly’s team, given that LSU’s leading rusher this season, Tyrion Davis-Price, declared for the NFL Draft.

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