Player Spotlight: John Reid

Audio/Story posted October 25, 2019 in CommRadio, Sports by Malcolm Wilson

This week’s player spotlight focuses on Penn State cornerback John Reid. Sidelined by a torn MCL for all of his junior year, the redshirt senior is now in his fifth season with the Nittany Lions.

Making two starts as a true freshmen and starting all 13 games as a sophomore, the star defensive back has been a standout on the Nittany Lions’ defense since 2015 when he joined the team as a four star recruit out of Saint Joseph’s Prep.

Reid is coming off a stellar redshirt junior season in which he registered 24 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 10 passes defended to earn him the nod for all-Big Ten honorable mention for the second time in his career.

All this experience has served the senior defensive back well, as he’s become an expert on the tendencies of rival teams over his five seasons in the Big Ten. One of those rivals, Michigan State, will face off against Penn State at Spartan Stadium Saturday.

At the team’s weekly press conference on Tuesday, Reid told reporters what he has learned about the Spartans after playing against them three times over the last four seasons.

“They’re always a really well-coached, disciplined team, no matter what their record is,” said the senior. “You know, you expect them to come out and play really great defense, and really scheme you up on offense, and you know they have good players who can do that.”

As for Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke, also a redshirt senior, Reid has picked up a few of his tendencies over the years as well.

“We know he has a good ability to be able to extend plays,” said Reid. “I think what’s even more important about how he does it is that he extends plays, but then he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes when he does it. I think that’s really a credit to how good of a quarterback he is.”

Lewerke is having one of the best seasons of his career this year with 1,596 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and three interceptions to earn him a quarterback rating of 129.5.

Reid and the rest of the Nittany Lions’ secondary will have to play at the top of their game to contain the senior quarterback and defeat a team that has bested them in four of their last five contests.

Look for No. 29 to make big plays this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when his Nittany Lions take on the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing.

 

 

Malcolm Wilson is a freshman majoring in journalism. To contact him, email malcolmwilson773@gmail.com.