The Daily Tar Heel
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The Daily Tar Heel

Donald Brown torched Louisville last week for 124 rushing yards and a touchdown marking the fifth time in as many games he eclipsed the 100-yard mark.

And those are just his stats in the first halves of football games.

Add in the numbers from after intermission and you've got the nation's leading rusher.

The redshirt junior arrived in Chapel Hill averaging 181.2 rushing yards per game. And if the Tar Heels hope to upend Brown's undefeated Connecticut team they'll need to slow him down.

Granted this will be no small task. Brown boasts speed — the 5-foot-10 210-pounder was a track star in high school.

And he's got power too most notably incredible lower body strength — he can out-squat most linemen — which makes him tough to drag down.

He's so fitness-obsessed that he had his own speed and strength coaches in high school and he is rarely seen drinking anything but water.

These tendencies quickly led to success in college football. Brown turned down offers from Tennessee and Nebraska to play defensive back instead opting for UConn because of its relative proximity to his home in Atlantic Highlands N.J.

That and the fact that he wanted the ball in his hands.

In his collegiate debut Brown ran for 118 yards and two scores on nine carries — all in the second half of a win against Rhode Island.

In his first college start Brown rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns. And he did it just 20 minutes from home against a nationally ranked Rutgers team that hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in two years.

That start came because of an injury to then-starter Terry Caulley and it was followed by four more. In those five games Brown kept pace with Big East studs Ray Rice and Steve Slaton rushing for 100 or more yards three times.

He was named second-team All-Big East in 2006 the only freshman to make the all-conference team.

Now without having to split carries with another back Brown is turning those flashes of greatness into a consistent assault on opposing rush defenses.

His 11 touchdowns is already tied for the seventh-highest single-season total in Connecticut history and his season total of 906 yards would rank 11th. And the Huskies have completed less than half of their schedule.

Brown's career numbers are even more impressive. His 2623 rushing yards and 26 scores are both tied for third-best in Huskie history.

None of this bodes well for a North Carolina defense that ranks eighth in the ACC in run defense and has worn down during the late stages of games this year.

During the Virginia Tech game the best rushing team the Tar Heels have seen UNC contained the Hokie ground game for three quarters. But in the fourth the same seams that were sealed tight all game suddenly opened wide due to fatigue.

The best bet for the Tar Heels to stop Brown and UConn's rushing attack is to try to take the ball out of Brown's hands and force the Huskies' backup quarterback Zach Frazer to throw the ball.

Brown's prolific rushing numbers don't translate into the receiving game. He is not a big threat out of the backfield with a career high of 32 receiving yards.

The goal for the Tar Heels will be to win the battle at the line of scrimmage and push into the backfield on early downs forcing the Huskies into obvious passing situations.

But against the leading rusher in the nation this task will require the efforts of all three levels of the UNC defense to carry out.


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