Barion Brown Named SEC co-Freshman of the Week

Kentucky freshman Barion Brown was named the Southeastern Conference co-Freshman of the Week after notching his first career 100-yard receiving game, the league announced Monday.

Brown, a 6-foot-1, 166-pound wide receiver and return specialist from Nashville, also pulled down his first two touchdown receptions, a 70-yarder and 15-yarder. He caught a total of four passes for 102 yards and two scores in Kentucky’s 31-23 victory over Northern Illinois. The 102 receiving yards are the most for a UK freshman since Garrett “Juice” Johnson (154 yards) versus Florida on Sept. 13, 2014.

On the first possession of the second half, he caught a crossing pattern at midfield and outran the defense for a 70-yard TD, UK’s longest offensive play of the season.  This is the second game this season he has made a game-changing play on the first possession of the third quarter – in the season opener vs. Miami (Ohio), leading 13-10, he opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return to give UK a 20-10 cushion.

For that earlier performance, he was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

In his rookie season, he has 13 catches for 201 yards, averaging 15.5 per catch.

No. 7/8 Kentucky faces a top-15 battle on the road at No. 14/11 Ole Miss Saturday, Oct. 1 when it travels to Oxford. Game time is noon ET and will be televised on ESPN. The game will also be broadcast live on the UK Sports Network with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro and Dick Gabriel calling the action.