Big Play Barion Brown Showed Off Explosiveness at Ole Miss

In case you forgot, Big Play Barion Brown reminded the entire college football world that he’s one of the most explosive playmakers in America. He put the team on his back and almost carried the Cats to victory in Oxford, reminiscent of Lynn Bowden‘s 2018 heroics at Missouri.

Playing in just his fifth college football game, Barion Brown recorded 245 all-purpose yards on five touches. For those who are bad at math, that’s 49 yards per touch. Incredible. He did most of his damage returning kicks. Facing a strong headwind, Ole Miss could not keep it away from the freshman phenom.

“When I’m back there, something big will happen,” he said after the game.

He totaled 164 yards on only three kickoff returns, the fourth-most yards in single-game by a Kentucky returner. Two returns went deep into Ole Miss territory. He thought each was going to result in a score, but one break-away ended early thanks to friendly-fire.

“He tripped me up, but it’s all good,” Brown said after the game.

It looked like Barion Brown was taking this all the way, but he got tripped by his teammate 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/O4ptaxkuwU

— 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 @𝗙𝗧𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱𝟳 (@FTBeard7) October 1, 2022

It gave the Wildcats’ excellent field position, but the UK offense was unable to produce points. His first lengthy kickoff return, an 85-yarder, did turn into a Kentucky touchdown two plays later.

Brown only caught two screen passes, but he turned each short pass into 81 total yards. His greatest masterpiece was on the final drive, knifing his way through the Ole Miss defense to pick up 51 and take the ball inside the Rebels’ 10-yard line.

“I kind of seen he had an angle on me,” said Barion Brown. “In my head I was thinking about making a move on him, but (it was too late).”

Kentucky still had multiple opportunities to get into the end zone, but a penalty and a strip sack prevented the Wildcats from scoring a game-winning touchdown in the final minute. Despite the heartbreaking loss, Brown and his Kentucky teammates believe their best football still lies ahead.

“We know we got things to work on, we got things to do,” said the freshman receiver. “We really weren’t too much down on ourselves because we know we can still reach the goals we have set. Just come ready to work on Monday.”