Safety Ji’Ayir Brown ready to take his place as the quarterback of the Penn State secondary
Brown, who will return for a fifth season in 2022, takes over as the leader of the secondary for the Outback Bowl from teammate Jaquan Brisker, his good friend, who has opted out of the game.
When Penn State’s defense hits the field for the first time in Saturday’s Outback Bowl, Ji’Ayir Brown will take over as the quarterback of the secondary, assuming the responsibility passed down to him by his close friend and former Nittany Lions and Lackawanna College teammate, Jaquan Brisker.
It’s quite a long link that Brown has with Brisker, a fifth-year senior and All-Big Ten first-team safety who opted out of the bowl meeting against Arkansas in Tampa, Fla., to start preparing for the NFL draft.
Their connection began at Lackawanna, a junior college in Scranton, where the older player from Pittsburgh set the standard at safety for the younger guy from Trenton. After playing one year together, Brisker transferred to Penn State where he was joined the following year by Brown.
Both started every game this season for the Nittany Lions. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Brown, who made third-team All-Big Ten, was a part of six (four interceptions, two fumble recoveries) of the Lions’ 19 takeaways, which was tied for third in the conference. His 67 tackles were third on the team.
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Brown, who announced last week that he would return to Penn State for the extra year allowed by the NCAA because of COVID-19, said he’s ready to take over.
“It’s just learn as much as you can as fast as you can, always stay home, never forget where you came from,” he said earlier this month. “I’ll know to always reach back out to guys like Jaquan and get that knowledge from those guys to help you prepare for the next level after that. I think that’s going to be a big step for me as I continue to do what I’m doing now, which is learning on everything.”
In an interview last month, Brisker said his job was to lead the secondary, but noted that he didn’t always have to show Brown everything.
“I try to show Ji’Ayir the ways,” he said, “but sometimes it’s not even me showing him. He just notices it. Sometimes he’ll say a few things on the sideline, ‘Man, you’re a great leader,’ and things like that. I feel like the torch is going to be his next year and he’s going to know what to do with it.”
As a whole, the Nittany Lions’ secondary enjoyed a very good 2021. The unit was ninth in the FBS in defensive pass efficiency. In the Big Ten, it was second in average yards per attempt at 6.0, tied for second with 11 touchdown passes allowed and tied for fourth with 12 interceptions.
The secondary received more good news, appropriately on Christmas, when redshirt sophomore cornerback Joey Porter Jr., another member of the All-Big Ten third team, announced he would come back to the Lions.
“Joey, man, he’s the ultimate competitor,” Brown said. “He might be the most competitive guy on the defense. Joey loves to compete. He loves the one-on-one matchups he gets. He loves to go against the best. It’s a blessing to have a corner like him, to be able to watch him play and do the things that he does very well.”
Brown has enjoyed having Anthony Poindexter, a two-time All-America safety at Virginia and a member of the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame class, as his position coach. He is delighted that Poindexter, who recently spoke with his alma mater about being the Cavaliers’ new head coach, is returning.
“It’s great to have him back,” he said. “He taught me a lot. He taught me how to play the middle of the field, how to fit in a defense. I learned a great amount from coach Dex. He’s a Hall of Famer. He has experience. He has a culture that really helped propel me this season.”
Brown had some strong moments this season, beginning with his first collegiate start in the opener at Wisconsin where he and Brisker each snared fourth-quarter interceptions to ice the victory. His fourth-quarter, 87-yard pick-six secured an early November win at Maryland.
Now he’ll take over as the hub of the secondary in his first career bowl game, looking for more.
“Everything is kind of new to me,” he said before accompanying his teammates on the flight last weekend to Tampa. “I’ve heard about how great it’s going to be and the time we got to ourselves down there. So I’m looking forward to everything and taking it all in as well.”