Noah Cain: RB · LSU · #21.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Noah Cain
Wears you down at the goal line. Played for two head coaches at two programs in five seasons: James Franklin and Brian Kelly. A game that shows it: 40 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD against Army — Week 8, 2023.
Play style
Short-yardage and goal-line specialist. Carries the load, owns the red zone.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
8.6% of carries overall (34/396) → 26.9% of Q4-with-lead carries (21/78) — 14.3% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
4 of the team's 47 inside-the-5 carries (8.5%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | LSU | 37 | 181 | 4.9 | 3 | 20 |
| 2022 | LSU | 75 | 405 | 5.4 | 10 | 49 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 106 | 350 | 3.3 | 4 | 34 |
| 2020 | Penn State | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 7 |
| 2019 | Penn State | 84 | 443 | 5.3 | 8 | 27 |
| Career | 305 | 1,392 | 4.6 | 25 | 49 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | LSU | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 1 | 6 |
| 2022 | LSU | 9 | 76 | 8.4 | 0 | 20 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 19 | 114 | 6.0 | 0 | 16 |
| 2020 | Penn State | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2019 | Penn State | 7 | 52 | 7.4 | 0 | 20 |
| Career | 36 | 248 | 6.9 | 1 | 20 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 24-45vs No. 8 Florida State | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wk 2 | W 72-10vs Grambling | 7 | 33 | 4.7 | 1 | 15 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-14@ Mississippi State | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 7 | W 48-18vs Auburn | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 62-0vs Army | 7 | 40 | 5.7 | 1 | 10 | Season-high 40 yds |
| Wk 11 | W 52-35vs Florida | 5 | 25 | 5.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 12 | W 56-14vs Georgia State | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 0 | 20 | |
| Wk 13 | W 42-30vs Texas A&M | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 0 | 5 | |
 Bowl | W 35-31vs Wisconsin | 6 | 31 | 5.2 | 0 | 12 | |
| Total | 37 | 181 | 4.9 | 3 | 20 |
Week 11 · 2023
W 52-35
vs Florida
25 rush yds (5 car) · 1 rec · 6 yds · 1 TD
Edged out Florida at home in a shootout.
With J. Daniels — 372 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 98.9 · 234 rush yds (12 car) · 2 TD · B. Thomas Jr. — 6 rec · 150 yds · 2 TD
The plays that mattered most
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 21.8 | 6.7 | 0.3 |
| Road1g | 15.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 16.8 | 3.4 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 24.2 | 8.7 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Brian Kelly
Pass share
49.0%
407 pass / 423 run
Plays / game
63.8
13 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
427 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Penn State and LSU, 1,392 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 43 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: James Franklin and Brian Kelly.
