Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 71 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M DEFENSIVE BACKS / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / D E F E N S I V E B A C K S / / / / / / / Jayson Oweh, receiver Jahan Dotson and tight end Pat Freiermuth. He never got his chance to join them, however. During a routine freshman physical, a heart con- dition was detected and his Penn State career ended before it began. Miner remained on scholarship and stayed close to the team through the spring of 2022, when he earned his bach- elor's degree. The Nittany Lions stuck with him throughout and kept him on in a role akin to a student assistant. The loyalty of Smith and head coach James Franklin was part of the message that Miner conveyed to Dixon. "He told me that they really care about you. He kept his scholarship, full ride, nothing changed," Dixon said. "Ev- erybody still treated him the same. He just couldn't play football. I respected that about Penn State because they still treated him just like he was a part of the family even though he couldn't contrib- ute on Saturdays." Dixon committed to the Lions just a few days after that initial phone call. But that was just the start of his jour- ney. Fully expecting to come in and play after starting in the SEC, Dixon quickly learned that Penn State's cornerbacks room was not what he thought he would find. He played in all 12 games for the Nittany Lions in 2021, but backed up vet- eran Tariq Castro-Fields and redshirt sophomore Joey Porter Jr. All the while, a true freshman named Kalen King was starting to emerge as well. Penn State's cornerback depth made Dixon's first year on campus a challenge. "It was tough, just because I was coming from a situation where I was the starter, I was t h e g uy a n d I was coming here p l a n - ning on t r y i n g to emu- late that. That set m e b a c k ," he explained. "Say you're in my situation and you didn't play how you