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Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from Cotton Bowl win over Memphis

By Zach Bigalke

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 28: Garrett Taylor #17 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with Jaquan Brisker #7 after a touchdown pass interception against the Memphis Tigers during the second half of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 28: Garrett Taylor #17 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates with Jaquan Brisker #7 after a touchdown pass interception against the Memphis Tigers during the second half of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

3. Journey Brown is only going to get better with time

It was a weird season for Journey Brown. He led the Nittany Lions in rushing in the regular season, racking up 10 touchdowns along the way. While he averaged 6.1 yards per carry, putting him in similar range to J.K. Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor, Brown received only 113 regular-season carries and finished with 688 yards on the ground.

Still just a redshirt sophomore, Brown showed against Memphis that he is a player to be watched in 2020. Brown busted off a pair of long touchdown runs before halftime, as he racked up 96 yards on just five carries in the first two quarters.

Brown’s second touchdown went for 56 yards, his longest carry of the day. But it was the first score that he busted off for 32 yards that serves as a visual masterpiece of the physical ability the 5-foot-11, 203-pound running back brings to the Penn State backfield.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1210983933367783428

Just as he has all season long, Brown did his damage on limited touches. He led the team with 202 rushing yards, and he did so on only 16 handoffs. By comparison, Noah Cain was second with 92 yards on 15  carries and Ricky Slade took four carries for 57 yards.

Next season Brown will be back for the Nittany Lions, and with both Dobbins and Taylor off to the NFL he could be the best back in the Big Ten. Brown will look to bolster his draft stock and try to take Penn State to the College Football Playoff with efforts that mirror what he did to Memphis at the Cotton Bowl Classic.

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