Prugar vs. Giger: Who is Penn State's best running back?

Note: Welcome to our first DKPS Penn State point-counterpoint, which we will make a somewhat regular feature where Cory Giger and Jarrod Prugar each take a side on a key issue facing the Nittany Lions.

Today's question: Who is Penn State's best running back?

Prugar says Keyvone Lee, while Giger is taking Noah Cain (with an asterisk).

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Entering the 2021 season, the Penn State running game was supposed to be a point of strength for the Nittany Lions, though through the first four games it was the weakest part of the offense.

With the running back group as deep as it has been in quite some time the talent hadn't come to fruition on the field and as a result Penn State was ranked 111th in the country in rushing entering it's game against Indiana. 

That changed against the Hoosiers as the Nittany Lions finally established a run game and did so early, nearly eclipsing their yards per game average in the first quarter. 

Leading the way against Indiana was Keyvone Lee. Lee - as a true freshman - was the feature back in 2020 after Noah Cain went down in the first game with an injury. He would rush for 428 yards and four touchdowns in 2020 averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Cain returned healthy in camp and Lee would wind up behind him on the depth chart as a result. While the stats might not show it, Lee is the more powerful back and is currently averaging 6.2 yards per carry boosted by his 74 yards against the Hoosiers.

Penn State has spread the ball around to its running backs with Cain and Lee doing the bulk of the work and Baylor transfer John Lovett steadily increasing his workload with each game. Also in the mix is Devyn Ford, though he's primarily been used as a blocker.

Cain has been dinged up of late and looks to be running at less than 100 percent which coupled with the performance of Lee, should make Lee the feature back. The Nittany Lions need a runner as quick and powerful as Lee to help lead them past Iowa and one who can handle the bulk of the workload against what should be a strong Hawkeyes front. 

Lee is confident, which bodes well moving forward for Penn State as the Nittany Lions prepare for the biggest game of the early season.

"It's something I grew up with. I've had a lot of confidence in myself and my mome always told me to have a lot of confidence because confidence can take you a lot of places," Lee said following the game against Indiana.

According to Lee, each play is designed for the back to get 5-10 yards a pop and should everything fall in line, that's typically what's happened with Lee save for a few short-yardage miscues.

If the Nittany Lions want to continue building on the running game, Lee is the guy with which they can do so, and he also gives them the best chance on the ground every Saturday.

GIGER COUNTERS WITH CAIN

Let's get one thing straight up front: This question doesn't even matter unless the offensive line does a better job run blocking. The line just hasn't done a good enough job opening up running lanes, although it did improve against Indiana.

One key distinction I want to make in this point-counterpoint is when. Meaning, are we talking about the best running back right now, or the best running back on the team overall?

Lee no doubt was the best running back against Indiana, with eight carries for 74 yards, including a 44-yard gain. But I do want to point out there was a rare big hole for him to run through on that 44-yarder, and he only had 30 yards on his other seven carries.

Cain had a poor game against the Hoosiers, with just 23 yards on 11 carries. He was hesitant, didn't attack, danced around and didn't look at all comfortable out there.

We knew that Cain had been banged up, which is why he carried only one time against Villanova two weeks ago. But was he still banged up against Indiana, or just ineffective?

That's a big question. Maybe James Franklin will shed some more light on his status Tuesday.

My feeling has always been that, when healthy, Cain is the best running back on the team. Contrary to Jarrod's take up above, I believe a healthy Cain gives PSU its best chance to win every Saturday.

In Cain's case, I mean physically and mentally healthy.

If he's physically healthy, we saw two years ago that Cain is able to take over games and put the offense on his back for stretches.

Remember, everyone felt Cain was the best running back on the team -- even ahead of Journey Brown -- early in the 2019 season. All the fans and media were wondering why he wasn't playing more, and I asked Franklin about that disconnect during one of his Tuesday press conferences that year.

It was Cain who led the ground attack in the thrilling 19-17 win at Iowa two years ago, carrying 22 times for 105 yards. So he's already proven himself in a big game at Kinnick Stadium.

Cain was banged up at the end of the 2019 season, which allowed Brown to take charge and emerge as a standout running back. Cain returned to rush for 92 yards on 15 carries in the Cotton Bowl win over Memphis.

But, as we all know, Cain was injured on the first series of the season at Indiana in 2020, then missed the rest of the year.

You just have to wonder: Going through two different injury situations over the past two seasons, is there part of Cain that is running a little bit scared out there now? His tentative approach in the Indiana game two days ago did not resemble the aggressive running back we saw when he was at his best in 2019.

So, I'll close by saying this: When Cain is at his best, I want him in the game over anybody else.

If he's not at his best, for whatever reason, then the Lions will have to lean heavily on Lee and see what they can do. And I'll also add that John Lovett should have a role in the backfield, as well, given his experience and solid running over the past two weeks (86 yards on 21 carries).