Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from emotional loss at Minnesota

3. Journey Brown broke out for Penn State

Giving Journey Brown the football was one of the few things that the Nittany Lions offense could do right on Saturday afternoon. He was the big-play force that Penn State needed on a Saturday afternoon where they found themselves playing in an uncomfortable position from behind on the scoreboard.

By halftime, Brown had already ripped off several huge runs, including his 45-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The sophomore running back finished the first two quarters with 101 yards on eight carries. In addition to his big scoring run, Brown also busted off a 39-yard run that put the Nittany Lions in position for a field goal to pull within 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

He didn’t get as many touches in the second half, as Penn State relied more heavily on their passing game since they were playing from behind against the Golden Gophers. But Brown was still critical to the offense, punching in a second score from six yards out in the fourth quarter to pull the Nittany Lions within five.

Brown ended the game with 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He also added a 17-yard reception out of the backfield. The rest of the team managed to grind out just 54 total rushing yards on 15 carries. Penn State needs to find ways to get Brown the ball more frequently if they hope to rebound through a tough final stretch.