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Penn State football LB Jan Johnson makes PFF’s Big Ten Team of the Week

By Justin Grasso

EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 07: Jan Johnson #36 of the Penn State Nittany Lions dives after Matt Alviti #7 of the Northwestern Wildcatss at Ryan Field on October 7, 2017 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 07: Jan Johnson #36 of the Penn State Nittany Lions dives after Matt Alviti #7 of the Northwestern Wildcatss at Ryan Field on October 7, 2017 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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PFF added Penn State football linebacker Jan Johnson to their Big Ten Team of the Week for his performance against Pitt.

This past weekend, Penn State football was fortunate enough to squeak out a tight win against the Pitt Panthers. While many expected the Nittany Lions to take care of their in-state rival with ease, it didn’t exactly go down like that.

The Penn State offense had its moments, but for the most part, it was a defensive battle. Pittsburgh was able to hold Penn State to under 20 points. Therefore, the Nittany Lions’ defense had to step up and keep the Panthers offense to only ten.

Looking back at the matchup, there’s probably no way that happens without the fantastic linebackers unit that Penn State has. Their defensive line is expected to be the strength of the entire team, but the last two opponents have done an excellent job of keeping them in check.

And while the secondary isn’t so bad — there were times they got picked apart by Pitt’s thriving quarterback. Those two units had their fair share of struggles, but there is really not much to say about the linebackers in a negative light.

The unit was fantastic, and we haven’t been shy about praising them. However, it seems as though we might’ve forgotten a critical name from Saturday’s game. Over the last couple of days, we pointed out Micah Parsons and Cam Brown’s performance on Saturday. But Jan Johnson’s was surely not one to forget either.

Pro Football Focus has it covered

So we haven’t sent too much praise in Johnson’s way, but PFF was fully prepared to highlight Johnson’s progress against Pitt by adding him to the Big Ten Team of the Week. On Saturday, Johnson totaled for five tackles, one of which was for a loss. He also collected a sack and a forced fumble too.

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“Johnson recorded four solo tackles without a missed attempt,” PFF’s Cam Mellor wrote. “He was all over the field for the Nittany Lions in the 100th meeting between Penn State and Pittsburgh.” Saturday’s matchup highlighted a team that has a lot to improve on — but the linebackers’ unit really looked flawless for the most part. This will be an exciting bunch moving forward.

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