Game 1 - Player of the Game: S Chris Brown

Published by David Macias

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First off, what a win! Great way to go into LSU with the exception of the Jordan Whittington injury. I plan to provide a recap tomorrow, but for today, I wanted to focus on the player of the game (not named Sam) - Safety, Chris Brown #15.

Chris Brown was all over the place on Saturday. He's the classic definition of a "gamer" - the dude just makes plays. He's by far the least heralded of our 5 safeties who played a significant amount against La Tech, and yet his gameplay tells a different story.

(Recruiting ratings according to 247 sports)
Caden Sterns - 5 stars - .9886 rating
BJ Foster - 5 stars - .9865 rating
Brandon Jones - 4 stars - .9794 rating
DeMarvion Overshown - 4 stars - .9737 rating
Chris Brown - 3 stars - .8767 rating

Don't sleep on 3 star recruits. Other notable 3 stars just from the class of 2016 (thank you for leaving us with some goodies, Charlie):
Lil' Jordan Humphrey - .8808
Malcolm Roach - .8619
Zach Shackleford - .8408

Suffice it to say, hitting on a 3 star can have just the same (inverse) effect as missing on a 5 star (think Colt McCoy and Garrett Gilbert, respectively).

Chris Brown's highlights!

Play 1 - Playing defensive end
Obviously, Chris Brown isn't playing defensive end here, but for all intents and purposes, he's one-on-one with the right tackle. It's pretty silly how easily he beats the RT to the inside. Brown going to the inside and Ossai #46 going to the outside is a pretty standard blitz, but to be able to do it with a safety and LB is a luxury. Their quick pressure forces the QB into a bad throw and subsequently, third and long.

Play 2 - Tackle for loss
I don't doubt other safeties on the team would've made the same play given the same situation, but either way, he made the play when the opportunity was presented.




Play 3 - Stands up RB right before fumble
I didn't notice this until rewatching the game. Sure, Jacoby Jones gets the forced fumble, but who stands up the running back after the Ayodele missed tackle? #15. Brown would have stopped him short of the line on 3rd down and effectively ended the drive had the fumble not occurred.




Play 4 - Chris Brown the defensive end
He's listed at 5'11" 195 going up against a RT. Just as d-lineman are taught - if you don't get to the quarterback, get your hands up.




Play 5 - Tackle in space
Decent gain by the O, and nothing too special here. Just wanted to showcase another tackle by Brown.




Play 6 - A third down stop
At first glance, I thought Brown was lagging on the play and got lucky that the QB decided to keep it (It appears the WR might actually outrun Ossai if the QB hands the ball off to him). However, watching Ossai closely will show that his assignment is the jetsweep, which would then leave Brown to do exactly what he did. Great aggressive tackling technique by Brown. He plays bigger than he is.




Play 7 - A fourth down stop!
Play recognition. Check. Proper angle. Check. Perfect tackle. Check.




Play 8 - La Tech... (face palm emoji)
Same play, same result.



Come back tomorrow for more GIFs and a brief recap on the game. Also, follow me on twitter Follow @dmacUT to get my posts directly.