Why Penn State’s Jahan Dotson and his teammates believe Saturday was just a glimpse of his potential
Jahan Dotson picked up his iPhone on Saturday night after Penn State’s loss to Ohio State and was a little surprised. The junior receiver’s messages were flooded with texts from friends and family.
Many marveled at his overall performance — eight catches for a career-high 144 yards and three touchdowns. Others highlighted his one-handed fourth-quarter touchdown grab, which ranked No. 2 on “SportsCenter”’s Top 10 Plays that night. Sure, Dotson expected recognition, but he couldn’t have envisioned that his phone would blow up like that.
“Honestly, it was insane,” he said Wednesday.
Dotson didn’t spend much time basking in the spotlight, though. He swiftly shifted his focus to the task ahead: Penn State trying to pick up its first win of the season when Maryland visits Beaver Stadium this Saturday.
“I honestly tried to respond to everyone as quick as possible, just because I knew that coming into next week we had another game,” Dotson said. “I can’t be focused on myself like that.”
The Nittany Lions will need the 5-foot-11, 182-pound receiver to have more games like the one he had against the Buckeyes.
Through two games, Dotson leads Penn State with 12 catches for 238 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The next closest player to Dotson in terms of receiving yards is junior tight end Pat Freiermuth, who has 106 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. And the only other three receivers who have caught a pass this season are freshman Parker Washington, freshman KeAndre Lambert-Smith and redshirt sophomore Daniel George — a trio that has combined for just 157 receiving yards.
Junior defense tackle P.J. Mustipher watched Dotson’s one-handed catch from the sidelines Saturday night and was in awe.
“It wasn’t as much of a surprise as it was to everybody else, because we expect that out of Jahan,” Mustipher said. “He’s a wide receiver who’s been making plays since Day 1, and we know he’s capable of things like that. But when we saw it happen out there, we were all just kinda stuck like, ‘Wow, he really just did that.’”
The overall success Dotson’s had so far this season isn’t a shock to his teammates, either.
Dotson is usually one of the last guys off the field after practice and often spends time in the weight room or catching passes on the JUGS machine on the team’s off days, Mustipher said.
“Just working harder than you did the previous day — that’s pretty much a moral I live by,” Dotson said. “Every day, just making sure you did something else to get better.”
George said that what Dotson demonstrated on the field last Saturday against Ohio State was just a preview of what he can do on a consistent basis moving forward. The two arrived at Penn State together in the fall of 2018, and George has seen Dotson’s progression firsthand.
If Dotson keeps the same mentality of getting “one percent better” each day, George’s words might be spot on.
“Pretty much what everyone saw Saturday is what we’ve been seeing from Jahan the whole time he’s been here,” George said. “... I think this is really just him coming into his own. And I have no doubt in my mind he’ll be able to do this for the rest of the season.”
Even though Penn State’s goals of making the College Football Playoff and winning a Big Ten title seem to be out of reach after an 0-2 start, Dotson is motivated by playing for his teammates. Instead of soaking in what’s already happened — both good and bad — he’d rather look ahead.
It’s the same reason why he didn’t spend much time celebrating his stellar performance against the Buckeyes last weekend.
And it’s why those in the Nittany Lions’ locker room believe that game was a coming-out party and not simply a one-off instance.
“I can just keep growing every day,” Dotson said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do over these past two weeks, and it’s been paying off.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 6:15 PM.
