LITTLE ROCK — Four months had passed since his transfer from Virginia Tech, and linebacker Jake Johnson gazed around Ladd-Pebbles Stadium for a reminder of his new home at a fledgling program in South Alabama.
Only 22,300 people were in the stands in Mobile, Ala. Across the field, Pikeville, an NAIA program from Kentucky, awaited, and another two seasons remained until South Alabama would play a full Sun Belt Conference schedule.
How dismissive was Johnson? Not at all.
“It’s football,” Johnson said. “Those guys still want come out and beat your a++.”
The reply is vintage Johnson, who leads the Sun Belt Conference’s second-ranked defense in tackles as the Jaguars (1-4, 0-1) head into Saturday’s game against Arkansas State (3-3, 1-1) at Liberty Bank Stadium in Jonesboro.
Johnson fits the stereotype for his position. He’s brawny at 6-2 and 240 pounds, with long, scraggly hair, a tribal pattern tattoo on one arm and the Grim Reaper on the other, and a penchant for heavy metal.
It all started back when he was a pudgy sixth-grader. He asked for a starter weight bench for Christmas, and lifted with pro wrestling blaring over the TV in his bedroom.
Six years later, an often circulated picture among Hokies fans captured the essence. It’s a photo of Johnson, then 18, working out at a recruiting camp, clad in a sleeveless shirt with black bands stretched around bulging biceps. Hair falls over his face and his mouth is agape as he screams.
“He wants to knock your head off on the field,” South Alabama Coach Joey Jones said. “Off the field, he’s the nicest kid on this team.”
Despite playing its first season in the FBS, South Alabama is allowing an average of 350.2 yards per game (38th nationally) and 25.6 points (61st) against a schedule that has featured trips to Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Sun Belt contender Troy.
Johnson leads the way with his 51 tackles, including 7 for loss (second in the Sun Belt), 1 sack and 3 quarterback hurries.
“He’s truly a fast-twitch player,” South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark said. “It only helps he can play from linebacker to a rush end and let us keep the same personnel on the field.”
It also explains why Jones’ staff coveted Johnson when, after an unwanted move to defensive end, he left behind the Hokies’ Lunch Pail Defense in Blacksburg.
At the time, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster didn’t mask the rationale for the switch. For all of his physical abilities, Johnson’s 4.6-second time in the 40-yard dash and all the time he spent in the weight room couldn’t ake up for deficiencies when it came to dropping into pass coverage and playing in space.
Eight games into his sophomore season, Johnson was benched midway through a loss to North Carolina after Foster said he struggled with in-game adjustments.
“I wasn’t going to play defensive end,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t going to put my hand down in the dirt.”
Jones’ program offered a critical enticement. As a transitional member in FCS, its players could see the field during a redshirt season, which meant Johnson could ultimately play five years.
“It’s not crazy to ask why did this guy leave,” Clark said. “What would make a productive guy jump from a successful program over a position change? But it only took one day to see what this kid was.”
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/12/2012