Standing 6’2, weighing 245 lbs, known by his full figured facial hair, Richie Brown has undoubtedly made a name for himself on the field and around the Mississippi State University campus.
The first thoughts that come to mind when asked about Richie Brown? Beast, beard, and interceptions. That last thought is most likely specifically courtesy of Brown’s three interception perfomance against Texas A&M last season. With 12 solo tackles and one assisted tackle during last week’s game against Auburn, Brown led the team with by far the most tackles.
Going into this year’s mathcup in College Station against the No. 14 Aggies, Brown leads the team in total tackles with 39. He also has four and half tackles for a loss and an intrception.
Despite his statistics, the linebacker has never started a single game until this season. Mentored by Benardrick Mckinney (second round draft pick and current linebacker for the Houston Texans), Brown ranks fourth in SEC making 89 career tackles and four interceptions.
Last season’s home win over the No. 6 ranked Texas A&M Aggies is unequivocally the breakout game of the junior linebacker’s collegiate career. During that game, he was the first SEC player since 2008 and the sixth player in Mississippi State history to have three interceptions in one game. Head Coach Dan Mullen spoke highly of Brown’s achievement. “It’s a great honor that Richie Brown was the SEC Defensive Player of the Week,” Mullen said.
“He played a heck of a game… I thought with the type of game he played, he was very deserving.”
Brown reminisced on the game momentarily but spoke humbly of his contirbutions, turning the focus to the team as a whole
“It was an exciting game,” Brown said. “I just want to help my team the best way I can this week and try not to focus on that too much and make sure my team is prepared.”
Because Brown has had 39 tackles this season alone, expectations on his performance are soaring. So when asked about challenges the Bulldog defense will face on Saturday, Brown elaborated.
“They are a good high-tempo offense. They like to throw the ball and are pretty good at it. They do a lot of the things normal spread teams do so we’re going to get locked in on that (in practice).” Head Coach Dan Mullen agrees, “They have an extremely explosive offense and probably the best defense that we’ve faced so far with speed on the field… It’s going to be a huge challenge for us.”
“Last year, he was a guy that played a bunch, but he wasn’t the guy,” said Mullen.
“As the mike linebacker out there for us this year, you want to see a guy who is going to make a bunch of plays. I think his athleticism really showed the other night, being able to run, not just tackling, but in between the tackles, and makingthose inside plays and his ability to go run plays down on the perimeter.”
Brown’s tackles and interceptionswww aren’t the only factors that contribute the defense’s standing. “It’s what our mindset is since we have been here. We might bend, we might get knocked back sometimes, but we are not going to break. That’s the mindset from strength staff to coaches, it’s how we practice,” Brown said.
After being added to the Butkus Award watchlist Brown may be up for the title of the country’s toplinebacker.
