Utah Utes football: Mr. Opportunity — Brown has gone from backup to U.'s top receiver

It was inevitable while growing up that Freddie Brown would be called Downtown Freddie Brown, after the former NBA basketball player.

These days, though, the Utah receiver is sporting a new nickname, in fact a couple of them. Call him First-down Freddie Brown or Touchdown Freddie Brown.

Both are appropriate after Brown's heroics, along with those of quarterback Brian Johnson, in the recent come-from-behind victory over TCU, which kept Utah's Mountain West Conference title and BCS bowl hopes alive.

First, Brown caught a critical fourth-down pass from Johnson to keep the Utes' final drive going. Then, a couple of minutes later, he caught the 9-yard touchdown pass that gave Utah a thrilling 13-10 victory.

When asked about it this week, Brown said, "It was exhilarating, probably more so after, than during the game. We're just so focused on the game and executing that I don't pay attention to outside factors. We were very composed on that last drive."

So far, Brown has been perhaps the most surprising player on this year's Ute team.

Everyone knew what Johnson could do as a quarterback, that Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack were bruising runners who would get their yards, that Paul Kruger was a great defensive end and that Louie Sakoda was an outstanding kicker.

But who would have guessed that, through 10 games, Brown would have already surpassed his career totals from the previous three seasons to become the leading receiver on the team?

Coming into this season, Brown had 39 total catches for 458 yards and no touchdowns. This year, Brown already has 46 catches for 568 yards and five touchdowns, best on the team in all three categories.

So what has been the big difference in Brown's game this year?

Part of it is the opportunity to play more. He played behind Derrek Richards and Brian Hernandez the last two years, but Bradon Godfrey and Brent Casteel were expected to be the main receivers this year along with Jereme Brooks and newcomer David Reed.

"He's just been more assertive," said U. receivers coach Aaron Roderick. "He's accepted the challenge of being an every-down player. We challenged him to do that, and he's doing a great job. Now we can hardly take him out of the game."

Roderick said Brown is on the field for approximately 60 snaps a game, similar to Godfrey, who is right behind Brown with 44 receptions this year. He said although Brown's speed is just slightly above-average, his size (6-foot-4), ability to change directions and his "very good" hands make him a great receiver.

The soft-spoken Brown showed his team-first mentality when he was asked about the difference in his game this year.

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