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JOHNSON
JONES
AUSTIN
6-4 ➤ 297 ➤ So./Fr. Eligible Defensive Tackle ➤ Galloway, N.J. When members of the Nittany Lion defense were asked last spring about younger players who had made a strong impression during winter conditioning and the 15 spring practices, one name consistently came up — defensive tackle Austin Johnson. A strong and tough player, Johnson made his presence known on the Dirty Show during his redshirt season, helping preparing the offensive line for the rigors of the Big Ten campaign. In his first game in Beaver Stadium, he recorded a gamehigh-tying five tackles, with two sacks, to help the defense post the win in the Blue-White game. Johnson has excellent drive and physical attributes and will be a primary challenger for a starting assignment next to senior DaQuan Jones. He played at St. Augustine Prep, which produced former Nittany Lion defensive end Jack Crawford, a 2012 NFL Draft choice who plays with the Oakland Raiders. Johnson is one of eight returning players from New Jersey. ➤ 2012 ➤ Freshman Season Redshirt season. ➤ High School Johnson was named all-state, All-Cape-Atlantic League and All-South Jersey during his senior season, helping lead St. Augustine Prep to the Cape-Atlantic League championship. He was selected a team captain during his junior and senior seasons under Coach Dennis Scuderi. Johnson was a second-team All-Cape-Atlantic League and second-team All-South Jersey selection during his junior year. He was invited to participate in the Chesapeake Bowl, All-Cape-Atlantic League all-star game and the New Jersey North-South game. Scout.com ranked Johnson among the nation’s Top 25 prep defensive tackles. He also was all-state in basketball and was named Cape-Atlantic Player-of-theYear as a senior. Johnson helped the Hermits to the NJSIAA Non-Public Group A state championship during his junior season. ➤ Personal Full name is Austin Hunter Johnson. He is the son of Austin and Tammy Johnson, and has two older sisters, Brandi and Erika, and one younger sister, Kennedy. He enjoys playing video games and lifting weights. Johnson intends on majoring in management in the Smeal College of Business and would like to own his own business. Born May 8, 1994 in Galloway, N.J.
DAQUAN 6-3 ➤ 318 ➤ Sr./Sr. Eligible Defensive Tackle ➤ Johnson City, N.Y. DaQuan Jones made his presence felt in the middle of the defensive line in 2012 during his first year as a starter, helping the Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten in scoring defense. But, as is the case every year in intercollegiate athletics, when Jones lines up in the 2013 opener with Syracuse, he will see several new faces to his left and right, with four defensive linemen having graduated from last year’s unit. Jones will be counted on to mentor and guide a host of young Nittany Lions in the locker room and on the field and provide tenacity and productivity in the middle of the trenches. The former Johnson City Senior High School standout has excellent physical attributes and possesses a challenging combination of size, strength and quickness. Selected third-team preseason All-Big Ten by Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, Jones has the ability to occupy and fight through multiple offensive linemen to provide more opportunities for teammates to make plays when he’s not in the backfield himself. Jones’ talents, desire and fierce work-ethic in the strength and conditioning program have seen him drop 15 pounds, while increasing his strength and have him primed for a strong senior season. He is among the squad members who has bench pressed more than 400 pounds. Jones is a criminology major and spent a portion of his summer as an intern observing the Spring Township Police Department near State College. ➤ 2012 ➤ Junior Season Jones secured a starting role during training camp and started the first 11 games. He played an instrumental role for a defense that ranked second in the Big Ten and No. 16 nationally in scoring defense at 19.1 ppg, holding six teams to 17 or fewer points. Jones recorded 22 tackles, with 2.0 tackles for loss and one-half sack, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. In his first career start, Jones made four tackles against Ohio. He recorded 1.5 TFL among his four stops in the 34-7 win over Navy and had one-half sack among his two hits in the 35-7 victory at Illinois. Jones had one tackle and a pass breakup in the 39-28 comeback win over No. 24 Northwestern. He recovered a fumble inside the Iowa red zone that led to a touchdown and a 24-0 second-quarter lead en route to a 38-14 decision over the Hawkeyes. Jones had two hits at No. 18 Nebraska, made one tackle in the win over Indiana and had three stops in the 24-21 Senior Day overtime victory against Wisconsin.
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➤ 2011 ➤ Sophomore Season Jones was a top reserve at defensive tackle and played in every game, recording eight tackles, including four solo stops. He made two hits each in the wins over Indiana State and Eastern Michigan. Jones saw action on 247 snaps, including a high of 30 against Houston and 29 at Wisconsin in the battle for the Leaders Division title.
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