Penn State football: 5 Players that are key to a victory over Maryland

STATE COLLEGE, PA – AUGUST 31: Journey Brown #4 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs for a touchdown against the Idaho Vandals during the first half at Beaver Stadium on August 31, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

1. Journey Brown, RB

Heading into the 2019 season, Journey Brown wasn’t viewed as the face of the backfield for the Nittany Lions. Instead, the former five-star running back, Ricky Slade topped the depth chart. After two underwhelming games though, Slade lost his spot.

Moments before the Pittsburgh game kicked off; it was announced that instead of Ricky Slade, the Lions planned to start Journey Brown at running back. Brown didn’t disappoint either as he kickstarted the Nittany Lions offense with a massive run from deep in Pitt territory to giving the Lions the ball in their own red zone.

Brown won’t be named a feature back for Penn State as they intend on rolling with the four-man committee still. However, we can expect him to get a good bulk of the carries on Friday. As he’s been reliable in the ground game, it only makes sense Penn State tries to stay true to the hot hand.