By RUSS BROWN • Photos by: UofL Athletics
If you’re a University of Louisville football fan, or even a fan of another team who follows college football, you’re going to be seeing, hearing and reading a lot about Isaac Brown in the future.
Even though his college career is only a couple of months old, Brown has looked nothing like a neophyte while emerging as a game-changer and a likely star of the future for the Cardinals during the first half of the season.
At the midpoint, he was well on his way to potentially becoming a 1,000-yard rusher with 508 yards and seven games remaining -- six regular season contests plus a bowl.
He has also started receiving national recognition following his breakout performance in a 24-20 win over Virginia on Oct. 12 when he rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, which earned him Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week honors in addition to being named to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List and the 247Sports Midseason True Freshman All-American Team.
Here’s what 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins had to say in an evaluation of Brown when he signed with UofL:
“A new age scatback with a naturally low center of gravity combined with elite burst makes it extremely difficult for defenders to get him on the ground. Rather elusive when he gets to the second level and has shown that he can make cuts at full speed without really having to gear down. On the smaller side but isn’t one that tries to shy away from contact. Has the potential to be a YAC (yards after carry) machine.”
Brown provided a preview of coming attractions by ripping off 123 yards on only five carries in the season opening 62-0 rout of Austin Peay, the first time any true UofL freshman had gained that many yards in his debut.
So Brown is already in some pretty special company. Eventual Heisman Trophy quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is the Cards’ all-time leading rusher with 4,132 career yards, had 106 yards in his debut against Auburn in 2015. Running back Walter Peacock (1972-1975), who held the UofL rushing record for 42 years before Jackson broke it, gained a mere 70 yards his entire freshman season and Michael Bush, who is considered one of Louisville’s best running backs ever, carried twice for minus-5 yards in his opening game against Kentucky in 2003.
However Brown’s yardage came against Football Championship Series (FCS) competition, a level beneath UofL, so to show he’s the real deal he had to perform against Power 4 teams, which he has done. During the three-game stretch leading up to the halfway point of the season, against No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 21 SMU and Virginia, the Homestead, Fla. product gained 335 yards while averaging an eye-popping 7.8 yards per carry.
“When Isaac came in, we knew he had a lot of talent, a lot of speed. So we’re happy with the way he’s progressed,” UofL offensive coordinator Brian Brohm said. “It’s always a matter of can they translate that to the next level? Can they pick up the offense? And he’s done a great job of studying the offense and knowing what to do. We’ve given him some more opportunities as the season’s gone on and he’s taken advantage of those and proven he can be a real threat for us.”
UofL senior safety Tamarion McDonald knows from going against the Cardinal offense in practice how big a problem Brown poses for opposing defenses.
“He’s real quick,” McDonald said. “Your angles have to be right if you’re going to tackle him in the open field.”
At only 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds Brown is small by major college running back standards, but that obviously hasn’t slowed him. He’s shown he can not only take the punishment from bigger defenders but can shrug it off and excel.
“It comes from my heart, to be honest,” Brown said, “because everybody thinks I’m too small to do things. But I just go out and show what I can do and put the team on my back.
He didn’t expect to get this much playing time so early in his career. Returning running back Maurice Turner, Miami transfer Don Chaney and Toledo transfer Peny Boone all had more experience and plenty of talent. But Boone transferred to Central Florida before the season started, Turner went down with an ankle injury in the second game and Brown has outperformed Chaney and fellow freshmen Keyjuan Brown and Duke Watson.
Brown carried the ball only 16 times in the first three games before establishing himself as a reliable go-to weapon. Except for size, he has everything a coach values in a running back -- speed, acceleration, field vision, elusiveness, toughness and durability, along with some important intangibles.
“He has a good work ethic, and his mental makeup and his natural ability are something you can’t teach,” UofL coach Jeff Brohm said. “He’s quick, fast and elusive. I think as he continues to progress in the weight room and gets stronger, we will get him to understand the nuances of college football better. We need to make sure he touches the ball so many times a game and allow him to do what he does best. He’s dangerous with the ball in his hands. Anytime you play a first-year freshman (early in the season) you worry about him locking up, not knowing the plays, turning the ball over. But Isaac practices really hard and his demeanor and work ethic overcomes a lot of that.
And Brown is just getting started. Stay tuned.