Isaac Brown

#1 · RB · Jr. · Louisville5′9″ · 190 lb · Homestead, FL

Rushing yards70725th of 278 running backsLast gameW 52–24vs Stanford · Oct 31
Nextat Georgia TechSat Nov 7 · 7:30 pm ET
via gocards.com ↗
707 rushing yards in 8 games; their best was 235 vs Florida State.
Game 1: against Ole Miss, loss 38-41, 36 rushing yards36LMISSGame 2: against Villanova, win 59-13, 61 rushing yards, FCS opponent61WVILLFCSGame 3: against SMU, win 41-31, 67 rushing yards, 1 touchdown67WSMUGame 4: against Wake Forest, loss 27-30, 33 rushing yards33LWAKEGame 5: at NC State, loss 28-31, 125 rushing yards, 1 touchdown125LNCSU@Game 6: against Florida State, win 44-20, 235 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns235WFSUGame 7: at Syracuse, win 34-26, 11 rushing yards11WSYR@Game 8: against Stanford, win 52-24, 139 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns139WSTANSeason high
Game 1: against Ole Miss, loss 38-41, 36 rushing yardsLMISSGame 2: against Villanova, win 59-13, 61 rushing yards, FCS opponentWVILLFCSGame 3: against SMU, win 41-31, 67 rushing yards, 1 touchdownWSMUGame 4: against Wake Forest, loss 27-30, 33 rushing yardsLWAKEGame 5: at NC State, loss 28-31, 125 rushing yards, 1 touchdownLNCSU@Game 6: against Florida State, win 44-20, 235 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns235WFSUGame 7: at Syracuse, win 34-26, 11 rushing yardsWSYR@Game 8: against Stanford, win 52-24, 139 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns139WSTANSeason high
  • touchdown

Stanford · W 52-24

9 carries, 139 yards, 3 TD

The other 7 games average 81 yards. This one was 58 above.

Open this game

Dashed line: 100 yards.

Compare with

Brown against Louisville’s best seasons, game by game

05001,0001,5002,000124681012144 to playGames playedHawkins ’19: 887 at game 8, 1,525 for the seasonBrown ’24: 649 at game 8, 1,173 for the seasonJordan ’23: 824 at game 8, 1,128 for the seasonRadcliff ’16: 605 at game 8, 903 for the seasonHawkins ’19 1,525Brown ’24 1,173Jordan ’23 1,128Radcliff ’16 903Brown 707
Through 8 games: 180 yards behind Javian Hawkins in 2019 (887 at this point), whose season finished at 1,525. Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

Backs who run like Brown, and how their seasons went

05001,0001,5001246810124 to playGames playedBrooks-James ’16 (Oregon): 572 at game 8, 771 for the seasonAchane ’21 (Texas A&M): 608 at game 8, 910 for the seasonWilliams ’14 (Kentucky): 222 at game 8, 488 for the seasonAchane ’21 910Brooks-James ’16 771Brown 707Williams ’14 488
The closest match is Tony Brooks-James of Oregon in 2016: 572 yards at game 8, against 707 this season, and 771 for the season. Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

Brown against this year’s top backs, game by game

05001,0001,5001246810124 to playGames playedRiley (Boise State): 1,049 at game 8, 1,049 so farWhite (North Texas): 1,043 at game 8, 1,043 so farRoberts (Missouri): 1,005 at game 8, 1,005 so farRiley 1,049White 1,043Roberts 1,005Brown 707
Through 8 games: 342 yards behind Dylan Riley of Boise State (1,049 at this point). Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

The road ahead: 707 yards, 88 a game, 4 regular-season games left.

  • 884 yards, Isaac Brown in 2025, Louisville’s 5th-best season in our records: 177 to go, 44 a game.
  • 903 yards, Brandon Radcliff in 2016, Louisville’s 4th-best season in our records: 196 to go, 49 a game.
  • 1,525 yards, Javian Hawkins in 2019, Louisville’s best season in our records: 818 to go, 204 a game, more than the 88 a game so far.

This week

  • RecordLouisville is 5-3.
  • What fans say

    Over the last few games, Louisville fans have been high on Brown's big plays.

    “I want Isaac Brown to get the single game rushing record. Let him take one more to the house.”

    “I shudder at the thought of a world where Louisville does not have Isaac Brown”

    “Sorry you won’t ever catch Isaac Brown in the open field.”

    From r/CFB game threads. Read by AI.

  • Next gameat Georgia Tech · Sat Nov 7

What’s being said

4 stories this week, from 5 outlets.

Oct 31: 3Nov 1: 1W 52-24 vs StanfordWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Oct 31: 3Nov 1: 1W 52-24 vs StanfordWOct 29Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

Isaac Brown, Louisville run away from Stanford

Field Level Media +2 Oct 31

All 59 stories this season

Worth knowing

  • Isaac Brown is rated 92 overall in EA College Football 27, tied for 4th among the game's running backs.
  • Isaac Brown was third-team All-ACC in 2025.

Said on Jan. 1, 2026 that he planned to enter the transfer portal; by Jan. 4 he had agreed to stay at Louisville on a new deal and never appeared in the portal database. As of Oct 22. ESPN

His most important play this season

  1. Q4, 12:27 · Louisville down 7, ties itIsaac Brown runs 70 yards for a touchdownLouisville at NC State, week 5Q4, 12:27 · Louisville 28, NC State 287070-yard touchdown run7070-yard touchdown run70-yard touchdown runI.Brown rush middle for 70 yards gain to the NCSU00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this playESPN College Football

All 10 of his plays on video

The story

As of

Two seasons, 2,057 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns — and in 2025, 884 yards on 8.75 yards a carry in just nine games, one of the most explosive per-carry marks in the country (our explosiveness metric grades it in the 98th percentile). When he entered the portal in January he became its No. 1 back overnight; then he negotiated a new deal and came home, telling Louisville he wanted to "make a statement."

Read the rest of the story

Now the Freshman All-American turned third-team All-ACC pick is the undisputed centerpiece of Jeff Brohm's offense for his junior year. The forward stakes are an All-America case and a draft climb: a back who turns the corner and is gone needs only volume and health to be the ACC's premier home-run hitter. For Brown, 2026 is the year the highlight reel becomes a résumé. In Louisville's 31-28 loss at NC State, Brown ran nine times for 125 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 70.

Sources

Style of play

Style of play

Play style

Brown is a home-run hitter in a 5-9, 190 frame — built low, built to disappear around the edge. The explosiveness is the headline and it's real: 8.75 yards per carry in 2025 (up from 7.1 as a freshman), which our play-by-play grades in the 98th percentile, paired with an 77th-percentile success rate that says the booms don't come at the cost of steady gains. The earliest scouting read (an SI breakdown, from his recruiting days) flagged exactly what the tape now shows — "elusive" and "very good at avoiding contact," with a specialty "running to the boundary and turning the corner" off an "above-average first cut" — plus real value as a receiver "out of the backfield, especially on swing passes." The honest note is the frame: at 190 pounds he's a speed-and-space back, not a between-the-tackles grinder. Give him the edge and a crease, and he's one of the fastest players to the perimeter in the sport.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

3/22Inside-5 share

3 of the team's 22 inside-the-5 carries (13.6%).

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

33% of the carries, 38% of the yards, 24% of the touchdowns

  • Carries33%92 of 275
  • Yards38%707 of 1,866
  • Touchdowns24%7 of 29
  • A touchdown every 13.1 carries. Everyone else on the team: one every 8.3.

Share of the team's rushing yards, game by game

No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.

Who carried it

Share of the team's total this season.

Most of his carries go up the middle

1020304050977046272375
leftmiddlerightno spot
a carry, up for a gain and down for a lossa touchdown

Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 20, middle 46, right 23. His longest went for 97 yards.