Barion Brown finds redemption at the biggest moment for Kentucky

Brown’s explosive 63-yard reception on fourth down late in the game led to Kentucky’s game-winning touchdown

Redemption can be a beautiful thing.

You know what else can be a beautiful thing? Getting the last laugh.

That was the case for Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver Barion Brown on Saturday in the Wildcats 20-17 upset win at No. 6 Ole Miss.

Brown hauled in a game-saving 63-yard reception on 4th & 7 with just under four minutes to play. It would set up the Wildcats game-winning touchdown, a play that saw quarterback Gavin Wimsatt fumble the ball trying to run it into the end zone.

Fortunately, the ball went directly into the arms tight end Josh Kattus, who covered the final two yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Going back to Brown, though, his 63-yard reception was redemption personified. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Brown had a critical unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced Kentucky into a 3rd & 25 deep in its own territory.

Considering Ole Miss came in averaging 55 points and 670 yards per game — and Kentucky’s defense had given the Wildcats a chance to pull off the upset by holding the Rebels to just 17 points — that penalty could have been costly.

To that point, Brown had just four grabs for 25 yards in what was shaping up to be another disappointing performance for the junior wideout, who was held to under 40 receiving yards in each of his first four games.

Thankfully, Brown was able to bounce back from the setback and make the biggest play of the game, and maybe the season.

“Really excited for [Brown], he’s a great kid,” Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff said after the game. “Great dude in the locker room, good teammate, a guy you want on your team. SEC matchups are going to be tough. They’re going to be physical, and you’re not going to have as much space. I thought our dudes went out there and competed.”

Give Kentucky’s defense a lot of credit for not letting that penalty derail any chance at pulling off the upset. Then, there are the guts by Mark Stoops to go for it on fourth down with about four minutes to play.

Two weeks ago, he took a lot of heat for punting instead of going for it against then-No. 1 Georgia, and the Wildcats lost 13-12. This week, he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

“We would get a one-on-one, and Barion [Brown] made a great play,” Stoops said. “I felt like, at that moment where they were at, the way we were playing in the red zone, we had been playing pretty good. And one of the reasons was I felt like we could get a one-on-one, so we went for it.”

It’s the fifth win in school history over a top-six team in the AP Poll for the Wildcats. And after the hard-fought loss against Georgia, which was a week after getting pummeled by South Carolina, this is the kind of win that galvanizes a mid-season surge.

Add in a bye week next week for some much-needed rest, and things are looking up for the Wildcats.

‘Like’ our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more UK news and views. Go Cats!