The only thing scarier than Nic Scourton on the football field is Nic Scourton in the “Fortnite” video game.

Before being the anchor of Texas A&M’s defensive line with 11 tackles for-loss and 4.5 sacks in seven games, Scourton was the best gamer in the Bryan, Texas, area. On Saturday, the adrenaline surge LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier gets when he sees Scourton chasing him will mirror how Scourton’s best friend, Andrew Buban, feels when he tries to shoot Scourton’s “Fortnite” character, only to watch him build a protective castle the instant he loses some health points.

“In two seconds, you’d be in a box,” Andrew said. “I used to play pretty intensely, too, and I don’t think I could ever beat him.”

Scourton will soon be an NFL player, but Andrew always tells people he could realistically do anything he wants. Scourton has a knack for hyper-fixation on whatever’s in front of him. In college, it’s Texas A&M football. But early in high school, Andrew’s father, Lane, remembers him streaming video games online.

The audience has grown since he transferred to Texas A&M, now playing in front of 100,000 people. He’s helped lead the Aggies to a 6-1 record and the No. 14 ranking, but Lane says the fans won’t find him in College Station’s bar scene reveling in the success. 

“If he had his choice of going to Northgate or going back to his apartment and getting online and playing video games, he’s going back to his apartment and getting online and playing video games,” Lane said.

Scourton isn’t anti-social. Lane recalls him and Shemar Turner as the last two players outside the Slocum Center after the Missouri game, signing autographs for every kid. But he does have a small circle, and video games are how he bonds with them. 

It was “Mortal Kombat” with his younger brother as a boy. When he moved in with the Buban family at the beginning of his sophomore year in high school, it was “Fortnite” and “Rocket League.”

Bryan High School, which Scourton and Andrew attended, is just over five miles away from Kyle Field. Over the years, there have been a lot of different Nic Scourtons who couldn’t bridge that distance, who’ve put on the Vikings’ uniform and had the talent to put on the Aggies’ but never did. Scourton is not a “what-if” story. He’s on your television screen, wreaking havoc on Texas A&M’s opponents and creating a future for himself because of the choices he and Andrew made together in high school.

“I don’t look at Andrew as a friend,” Scourton said. “That’s my brother.”