The University of Akron traveled to Miami of Ohio back on Nov. 21, 2019. The Zips had a left tackle named Xavior Gray. He stood 6-9 and 330 pounds as he looked down — way down — to line up against a true freshman from Miami named Ivan Pace Jr.
Today, Pace is a 5-10, 231-pound undrafted rookie inside linebacker who's turning heads quickly at Vikings camp with a vertically challenged body that coaches are lauding for its balance, power, quickness and what defensive coordinator Brian Flores calls "built-in leverage."
Back on Nov. 21, 2019, Pace was just an atypically constructed situational pass rusher who had yet to start a college game, who had yet to win Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year or transfer to the University of Cincinnati or win American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year or become UC's first unanimous All-America selection or the Senior Bowl's defensive player of the week.