Sept. 5, 2007

By Chris Deighan, The Macon Telegraph

MACON, GA. -- No longer a teenager, Furman nose tackle Justin Brown faces the fact that his days of growing - vertically at least - are past.

"I wish I could be a little taller," he said, "but that's not going to happen."

The 2005 graduate of Warner Robins High School lists at 5 feet, 10 inches and 273 pounds - smallish even by NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) standards. Only one of Furman's offensive or defensive linemen measures shorter than Brown.

Considering Brown was an all-Southern Conference performer as a redshirt freshman last year, and considering he was named a pre-season all-American for the '07 season, opposing centers and guards understand that the Furman matchup will be one of their toughest this year.

Actually, that sentiment will carry across positional lines and into coaching meetings. Furman, which hosts Presbyterian in its season opener today, enters the season ranked 10th in the nation.

Paladin fans and football wonks have already circled Oct. 27 on their calendars. That's the day Furman hosts conference foe and two-time defending national champion Appalachian State. But Brown advises against looking ahead.

"I think this could be a real good year and we could compete for a national championship," he said. "The key is to just take one game at a time. A lot of people are looking ahead to App State and Georgia Southern, but coach (Bobby) Lamb has us thinking about one game at a time."

Brown's performance is a big reason confidence in Greenville is so high. After taking a redshirt as a true freshman, Brown shed doubt about his ability like so many would-be blockers. He earned a starting job after his work in the spring of 2006, then proceeded to quickly validate the trust of line coach Roberto Pinilla.

In his first college game, a win over Jacksonville State, Brown was credited with seven tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. By the time the year was over, he had recorded 43 tackles and a team-high three sacks. He was tabbed the team's top freshman.

"I was just very confident and was doing what I had to do in order to take over that starting position," Brown said.

Pinilla was in his first year at Furman. He moved over from The Citadel where he had fiercely recruited Brown out of Warner Robins. In fact, Pinilla was in the Georgia Dome crowd that saw Warner Robins beat Ware County on the way to the GHSA Class AAAA state championship in 2004.

"The thing we saw about Justin on film, he was just so quick off the ball and he was getting off blocks and making plays," Pinilla said. "Coaches will teach different techniques, but playmaking ability comes from within the player."

Brown is especially good at taking the lessons learned in film sessions and converting that information into on-field production, the coach said.

"Justin does have a good knack of picking up blocking schemes," Pinilla said.

Brown was that way at Warner Robins, according to his position coach Scott Lamb. By keying on the opponents' blocking techniques, he could read the play.

"Justin knew what offenses were trying to accomplish," Lamb wrote in an e-mail. "This makes the defensive line coach's job a whole lot easier. We spend all our practices trying to get some kids to understand this and he knew it as a sophomore."

Brown missed spring practice this year after enduring both shoulder and knee surgery in December. In addition to his studies in communications and religion, he spent most of the spring in rehabilitation.

"I hit it pretty hard," he said.

So hard in fact, that he said it reminded him of some of the weight training sessions he spent under former Demons' strength coach Milan Turner. Brown said Turner's regimen helped him come into Furman as one of the top two or three strongest freshmen.

That's just one of many experiences at Warner Robins that have served Brown well in college. Playing for such a tradition-rich school translates well to Furman, a program that boasts 12 conference championships since 1978.

"I think it's a big help," Brown said. "At Warner Robins, it's known that you're going to win and compete for a state title. Every year, just like Warner Robins