Penn State Football Transfer Round-Up: RB John Lovett

We're kicking off a detailed look at the new arrivals within the Penn State football program in the coming days and weeks, which includes six transfers and another eight high school prospects being welcomed into the Nittany Lion family.

With winter workouts beginning Tuesday and the transfers and early enrollees already on campus and working with the program, we'll begin our series with a player-by-player evaluation of the transfers, starting today with Baylor transfer running back John Lovett.

Given Penn State’s situation at running back heading into the 2020 season, then considered the deepest and most talented group within the program, the addition of John Lovett through the transfer portal might, at first glance, appear superfluous.

Of course, Penn State knows better.

Losing Journey Brown to a career-ending diagnosis of the heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, then losing 1A “backup” Noah Cain to a foot injury for the entirety of the season just one offensive possession into the campaign, and finally losing third-stringer Devyn Ford for the Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois games, head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions aren’t likely to sleep peacefully about the notion of running back depth any time soon, or maybe ever again.

So, with Brown moving into a helping role in the program and Cain still rehabilitating from an injury, Lovett represents an instant fortification of the position group’s depth while adding a veteran presence to a room that now has three (effectively) sophomore-eligibility backs.

Bringing four seasons of experience with him from Baylor, Lovett finished the 2019 campaign as the Bears’ top rusher with 655 yards and five scores on 103 carries (6.4 yards per carry) in 14 games to go along with another eight receptions for 66 yards. The effort followed a sophomore campaign in 2018 in which Lovett also led the Bears with 573 yards and six touchdowns on 109 attempts with a 5.3 yards per carry average.

What was supposed to be Lovett’s senior season in 2020, however, was a decided turn away from that prior career trajectory. Starting games against Kansas, West Virginia, Texas, TCU, and Kansas State, Lovett opted out of the rest of the season following the game with the Longhorns in which the Bears dropped to 1-2, before eventually being forced out of action the latter half of the season due to injury. His statistical contribution to the Bears’ 2-7 season was then limited to 130 yards and a touchdown on 45 carries to go along with 49 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions.

Kevin Lonnquist, the publisher of Baylor Rivals site Sic’Em Sports, explained the decision of Lovett to transfer and the relatively little surprise it drew given his diminishing role.

“He opted out after the Texas game and had to be talked into returning within days,” Lonnquist told BWI. “He then suffered a concussion during the TCU game and wasn't the same since. That led to his role diminishing. He needed a change of scenery (and) that might help in State College, especially since he's closer to home.”

Originally from Burlington, N.J., (Cherokee High School) in suburban Philadelphia, Lovett had a prior relationship with Penn State through his recruiting process as part of the signing Class of 2017.

Listed as an athlete in high school, Lovett was offered by the Nittany Lions his senior year, and he did attend a game in Beaver Stadium in 2016. A three-star prospect from New Jersey, he earned over a dozen scholarship offers, and at one point was committed to Rutgers before re-opening his recruitment. Lovett ultimately took official visits to Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers, and Tennessee before committing to Baylor a few days before National Signing Day in February 2017.

He has joined a Nittany Lions’ running backs room that will look to build on an evolutionary performance in 2020. True freshman Keyvone Lee ultimately became the team’s top rusher for the 2020 season with 438 yards and four touchdowns on 89 carries, ascending into a starting role in three of the final four games of the year. Complementing Lee were the aforementioned contribution of Ford and fellow true freshman Caziah Holmes, who ran for 227 yards and two scores on 51 attempts.

Assessing Lovett’s performance as a Bear against what it might potentially become, absent the internal decision-making that will be left to position coach Ja’Juan Seider, Lonnquist noted that he thought Lovett could have been poised for a breakout season in 2020 given his prior performances, but simply never found a rhythm in Baylor’s running game.

At Penn State, then, Lovett’s most likely contribution would appear to be as a complement to the other options the Nittany Lions have at the position.

“I never considered him a lead running back. I’ve thought of him as being part of a mixed solution,” Lonnquist said. “He could be the primary ball carrier, but to me, that's like 10-13 carries per game. If Penn State routinely uses him that way, that might be the way to go.

“I think he's a mix being solid in both between the tackles and to the edge. I find him to be a pretty good pass-catcher. I wouldn't call him solid in pass protection, but a lot of the problems on Baylor quarterbacks in recent years falls on the offensive line.”

Lovett will have one remaining season of eligibility to participate with the Nittany Lions.

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