STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Long before he was working at multiple linebacker spots for the Nittany Lions, sophomore Cam Brown had to anchor the offensive line.
The now 6-5, 225-pounder played center for his youth team back home in Maryland and that meant enduring the occasional hits from his teammate, then-nose guard Lorenzo Harrison.
"He used to play nose guard sometimes because he’s the same size that he was in Little League," Brown said of the Terrapins' running back. "I played center and when coach got mad at practice about something, about the offense, he used to put Lo at nose guard and have him try to run through me. It used to be funny because I would just cut him at practice and coach would get mad. It was a good little experience there. We used to go back and forth sometimes.”
The two will square off Saturday afternoon, but this time in much different roles as No. 10 Penn State buses to College Park, Md., for the regular season finale against Maryland. Brown laughed and said no, Harrison shouldn't plan to cut him this time around as payback for their youth league days. But, expect there to be plenty of trash talk back and forth between many of the players and their families since Penn State's ties to the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, commonly referred to as the DMV, run deep.
With 13 Penn State players hailing from Maryland, and many more growing up in the surrounding region much like quarterback Trace McSorley who grew up 45 minutes away in Virginia, the number of familiar faces on both sides makes the Lions' trip to College Park a little more interesting for this group. The game even hits close to home for James Franklin, who spent eight seasons on staff at Maryland.
"It's going to be, like, a backyard football game, you know, as far as me knowing a lot of guys that's on the team," said safety Marcus Allen, who played his high school ball at Maryland's Dr. Henry Wise High School. "We talk back and forth, talking our little stuff. Playing against Maryland, guys that I know, is always fun. So I'm pretty sure the stadium's going to be, like, riled up. There's a lot of family members, friends that are going to be, like, coming and supporting me, and Penn State."
Penn State redshirt junior running back Mark Allen, the team's top trash talker, is usually at the forefront of those back and forth texts with his former teammates and friends from DeMatha Catholic, Marcus joked.
Many Penn State players from the DMV were working on securing extra tickets from their teammates this week. It takes a little lobbying as Brown noted, adding that swapping Rutgers tickets for Maryland was one move a few of his teammates made given the number of Penn State players who had family on hand for the Lions' homecoming clash against the Scarlet Knights.
The last time Penn State played Maryland on the road the game was played at the neutral site of Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium, but a few Lions attended games in College Park as kids. Even if playing their college ball for their in-state school wasn't the goal, being familiar with the venue and the opponent is common for many of these Penn State players.
Some even gave Maryland a hard look on the recruiting trail, but it wasn't until DJ Durkin took over in December of 2015 that Brown even picked up an offer from Maryland. It was far too late in the process for Brown, who was already set on Penn State. Brown hasn't forgotten that detail, adding this week that it'll be "nice to get back to a school that didn’t really recruit me."
"Never really even dreamed about going to Maryland, never really thought about it, honestly," Brown said. He played his high school ball at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. "But when I was going through the recruiting process I just figured it would’ve been nice to have that option but I never really did. It came up late with the new staff."
Penn State's defense will get a different face to start the game alongside Allen since safety Troy Apke has to sit out the first half after getting ejected for targeting during last week's win against Nebraska. The Lions' choices will either be safety Ayron Monroe, who hails from D.C and grew up in Largo, Maryland, or Nick Scott, who grew up in Fairfax, Virginia. The Monroe family was familiar with Franklin long before he recruited Ayron to Penn State since Franklin also recruited Monroe's older brother, who played his college ball at Maryland.
Even the coaching staffs from Penn State and Maryland have run into each other out on the recruiting trail and they've done so long before Franklin was at Penn State and Durkin was the head man at Maryland. Vying for many of the same players in the talent-rich DMV surely means this won't be the last time they're in the same place at the same time.
"Seems like our paths continue to cross," Franklin said. "He was at Florida as the defensive coordinator when we were at Vanderbilt, then at Michigan obviously as the defensive coordinator, and now as the head coach at Maryland. Very respected guy. Does a really, really good job. From everything I see, seems like a really good person, as well. Going to be a tremendous challenge to go on the road and play a conference opponent."