Blue White Illustrated

INTO THE UNKNOWN The Nittany Lions and their Big Ten brethren are making a late entry into the chase for the College Football Playoff But aside from the ultimate objective nothing will look familiar this fall . , also earning All-America honors from the NJCAA. He com- piled three interceptions in nine games, to go along with 35 tackles, 5ve pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Rivals.com rated him as the No. 12 overall junior college re- cruit. With a resume like that, it's easy to understand Penn State's interest. By the time the Nittany Lions o7ered a8er watching Brown at a camp, the only other Division I school to do so was Kent State. But to those who worked closely with him at Lackawanna, his upside was always clear. Josh Pardini, an assistant coach with the Falcons, com- pared Brown to Kyzir White, another former Lackawanna player who was chosen by the Los Angeles Chargers in the fourth round of the 2018 dra8 a8er 5n- ishing his college career at West Vir- ginia. "The only reason Ji'Ayir played corner was because we were solid every- where else," Pardini said. "We had to get him on the 5eld. I think he's just a dif- ference-maker. Like Brisker, he can get you tackles for loss and rush o7 the edge, but he also has great ball skills, can play man coverage and zone coverage." For Lackawanna, Pardini said, Brown was like a security blanket. The Fal- cons used him as a center safety as a sophomore in a cover-three defense. "He really eliminates all the big plays," Pardini said. "He has a great knack for stopping those things. He's always been great at 5nding the ball and cutting o7 routes." The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Brown made strides defend- ing the run last year, Pardini said, and also showed an abil- ity to play in a double-team against elite receivers. "He's another versatile player," Pardini said. "He o7ers us so much 6exibility by keeping him back there [at safety]. It hurt his numbers a bit, but he [was] extremely e7ective for us. He shuts down any breakaway runs, and teams [were] having problems throwing deep. He was a big reason why." ■ THE BROWN FILE STATS Finished with 75 tack- les, eight interceptions, eight pass breakups and a fumble re- covery in two seasons at Lack- awanna College, helping the Falcons go 21-1 during his time at the school HONORS Named a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 12 juco prospect nation- ally... Won the Northeast Foot- ball Conference's Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2019... Was named a first- team NJCAA All- American as a sophomore >>

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