Barion Brown was college football’s fastest ball carrier in Week 1

Entering halftime, the Kentucky Wildcats held just a 13-10 lead over Miami (OH) after not being able to capitalize in the red zone.

Coming out of the half, true freshman Barion Brown immediately provided the Wildcats with a game-changing play, returning the half’s opening kickoff for a touchdown.

As impressive as Brown’s return was in the moment — being the first kickoff return touchdown in the Stoops Era — it may be even more impressive in hindsight.

According to a tweet from Recruiting Analytics, Brown was the fastest ball carrier in the country last week with a top speed of 22.0 mph. To put that in perspective, only three players in the NFL ran at the same speed or faster during the 2021 season.

Not too bad for the first game of a true freshman, and I have a feeling he has plenty of more highlight plays in his future at Kentucky.

For his efforts, Brown earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.