Brown Kept Telling Vandagriff he Could Make a Big Play

Barion Brown (7) celebrates with Dane Key and UK fans after Saturday's win. (UK Athletics Photo)

Barion Brown was obviously frustrated. He was not having the kind of game he wanted — he slipped and fell on a kickoff return, got a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for yelling at an official, and had two of his first three catches go for only two yards each — at Ole Miss Saturday.

However, the junior receiver has never lacked confidence and never will. He had an 18-yard catch and kept telling quarterback Brock Vandagriff he could get open for an explosive play but no one could have expected it to come on a fourth down and seven play at the UK 20-yard line with under four minutes to play and Ole Miss leading 17-13.

“Barion Brown, the whole game he said, ‘I’m burning him! I’m burning him! I’m burning him!’ So I was saying, ‘OK, OK, OK,’” Vandagriff said after the game. “And man, I’ll be danged. They line up in man and I got to give one of the best wideouts in the game a go-ball. Man, he just made a play. I just put the ball up and he did the rest.”

Brown got behind the defense, caught the ball at the Ole Miss 46, stayed inbounds, cut inside, and reached the 17 — a 63-yard gain, UK’s biggest play of the season — to set up the winning touchdown in Kentucky’s 20-17 upset of the No. 6 Rebels.

Coach Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan anticipated the one-on-one coverage on Brown but Vandagriff had options. However, he knew the best mismatch was with Brown.

“It’s a couple different options. We had different answers for man or zone. They end up going man and pretty much every route except one on that concept is a man-beater,” the UK quarterback said. “You just pick your matchup and let it fly.”

That was the type of play UK had expected Brown to make often this year but he had only 90 yards on 12 catches in four games before making his sensational play on the fourth-down bomb. No one was happier for Brown than Vandagriff.

“I’m really excited for that dude. He’s a great kid, great dude in the locker room, good teammate. He’s a guy you want on your team and in your locker room,” Vandagriff said. “We were able to connect earlier in the game on kind of a little comeback route on the hash, he made a good, physical catch.

“That’s just what it takes. In the SEC, these games and these matchups are going to be tough. They’re going to be physical, not going to have as much space. Our dudes went out there and competed.”