Penn State football has options to replace running back Journey Brown

Penn State’s football team could potentially be missing projected starting running back Journey Brown for the duration of the season because of an undisclosed ailment.

Coach James Franklin acknowledged that possibility Tuesday with an optimistic but forlorn statement during a video conference with reporters.

“I’m a big believer that Journey’s experiences throughout his entire life equip him with all the necessary tools to battle this situation as well,” Franklin said. “He has had a lot of adversity in his life in very short period of time in terms of his age and the things that he’s been able to overcome. That’s why when we first started kind of dealing with all of this, that was my conversation with him. I know he’s going to handle this thing like he handles everything else and does it in a first-class way and tries to stay positive and focuses on the blessings. We’re going to do the same thing. We don’t know what the future holds, yet. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out.

“I do know he has 120 brothers that love and support him. You talk about universally respected and loved by his teammates and the coaches and the staff … you just know he’s a guy that’s going to be successful. He’s got a survivor mentality and not just survives but finds a way to flourish under challenging times. That’s why whether it’s football or it’s school or it’s business or whatever Journey decides to do in his future, he’s going to find a way to be successful.

“Journey Brown is just a tremendous of a young man that took an opportunity and ran with it. I think he’s going to continue doing that. I’m excited to watch his story play out. I’m hoping to be a part of that story with him for the long haul.”

Last season, Brown appeared in 13 games and rushed for 890 yards with 12 touchdowns on 129 attempts. He also had 15 receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown.

Franklin professed to having no shortage of options to replace Brown, a native of Meadville. The leading candidates are Noah Cain and Devyn Ford.

In 10 games last season, Cain rushed for 443 yards on 84 attempts with eight touchdowns. He also had seven receptions for 52 yards.

Ford appeared in 12 games and had 294 rushing yards on 52 attempts with three touchdowns. He also contributed five receptions for 30 yards.

“Obviously, I think (running back coach Ja’Juan Seider) has done a really good job of not only recruiting but also developing at that position,” Franklin said. “There’s an identity and a mentality at that position. … We’ve got a number of guys there whether you’re talking about Devyn or whether you talking about, obviously, Noah Cain (who) did so many significant things for us last year.”

Further down the depth chart are Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee.

“Then two guys that we’re really excited about behind those guys with Caziah and Keyvone. I feel like we’ve got a really good group there,” Franklin said. “Obviously, Keyvone and Caziah haven’t done it in a collegiate setting yet.

Replacing Brown won’t be easy, and it appears it will take a committee to do so.

“But we do feel like Noah has the ability to carry the load and feel like Devyn has a chance to do that as well,” Franklin said. “We’ll see how close those two young guys are ready to play based on how they prepared this week. But you’d love to get them in the game and see how they’ll do in that setting. We feel very confident with Noah and feel very confident with Devyn.”