Johnson excites in expanded role
It took less than five minutes for the darling of Penn State’s offseason to turn into a nightmare for the Akron secondary.
Wide receiver Juwan Johnson hauled in Trace McSorley’s first completion of the day, providing an early showcase of what had James Franklin and company raving about throughout camp. Johnson was opportunistic on Saturday, hauling in four of his five targets for a team-high 84 yards through the air.
His numbers dwarfed those that he posted in a backup role last season, with just two catches and 70 yards to show for 14 games played.
Still, not even the best game of his career by far could satisfy Johnson.
“I missed a couple balls out there, honestly,” Johnson said. "I felt like I could make a lot of them. I am going to look back and hate it, but it’s just something I can build off of and hopefully get better from.”
Among those missed opportunities was Penn State’s lone offensive blemish of the afternoon: A McSorley pass intended for Johnson in the end zone that was intercepted on the first Nittany Lion drive of the day.
The memory of that play was all but erased in the deluge of Penn State points that came afterward — one that Johnson played no small part in creating. An impressive catch on the sideline helped the Nittany Lions overcome the closest thing to adversity they faced all day, converting on fourth-and-two before Saquon Barkley scored to extend their lead to 35-0 and put the game seemingly out of reach just before halftime.
Johnson’s poise and performance in the face of sky-high expectations set for him by the coaching staff was impressive, but he said the praise didn’t add any extra pressure.
“That stuff makes me do more, do more, do more,” he said. “At that point, if they say all that and then I don’t live up to the expectation... I’m kind of disappointing them, or disappointing fans or disappointing my family in that aspect. So, what I would do, I work harder. I work harder, and then I keep pushing to be honest.”
Even so, the opinions of everyone else are secondary to Johnson. His only concern is the next play.
“Honestly, I just go out there and I just play,” Johnson said. “I didn’t have any personal goals set out for this season. I’ve been asked multiple times why. I just want to go out there and play, honestly. It’s better if I just go out there instead of setting myself to limits.”
Part of the same recruiting class, linebacker Jarvis Miller had watched Johnson’s transformation from the front row and is happy to pinpoint exactly where it began.
“It started for him in spring. After the Rose Bowl, he just went to work and put his head down. I’m talking about that extra work that you see when no one else sees, and that’s what I think really sprung him to have such a great spring and he’s going to carry that over to this year.”
Miller isn’t the first to rave about Johnson, and he probably won’t be the last. But Johnson has adopted his head coach’s mindset when it comes to blocking out the noise.
“We got the first one done, that’s all that matters. We have Pitt to look forward to. You know how coach Franklin says, ‘Pitt, Pitt, PItt.’ That’s pretty much what our motto is. As of right now, we just have to focus on Pitt, get our corrections from this game and then move forward.”