There was little in San Diego State wide receiver Vincent Brown’s background for anyone to expect a breakout season. Just ask his new coach, Brady Hoke.
“I didn’t really expect it,” Hoke said earlier this week. “It’s just his work ethic and the things he does.”
Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild knows where Brown is headed: “There is no question that he is going to play in the NFL.”
Averaging 129.7 yards a game, the 6-foot, 180-pound junior is ranked third in the nation in receiving. Brown has passed the century mark in five of six games and has 778 yards and six touchdowns.
Although he led the Aztecs last season in receiving (631 yards), his 52.6 yard-per-game average was only ninth in the Mountain West. He didn’t even draw MWC honorable mention.
“Not in all my dreams,” Brown said of Fairchild’s comments. “It’s humbling to hear people say things like that right now.”
It didn’t take Brown and Hoke long to restore the “Wide Receiver U.” glory to the Aztecs. This is a program that produced nine first- or second- round NFL draft picks at wide receiver since ex-Broncos great Haven Moses was the ninth overall pick in the 1968 draft by Buffalo.
“I always heard it was a receiver school,” said Brown, who grew up not far away in Rancho Cucamonga. “I wanted to be part of changing the program to where it used to be where you heard of the great players there.”
He said he owes his current success to the play-calling by new offensive coordinator Al Borges and the wide-open scheme Hoke brought from Ball State.
CSU starts its unofficial second season today with San Diego State. After the brutal succession of MWC titans BYU, Utah and TCU, every remaining team on the schedule represents no worse than a tossup for the Rams.
Brown, with sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley taking full advantage of the pass-first offense, is a key reason the Aztecs are improving weekly. But the Aztecs average only 68.3 yards per game on the ground, ranking 119th out of the 120 Division I-A teams.
Despite all the attention from opposing defenses, Lindley gets the ball to Brown, who has 45 catches. When Fairchild compared SDSU to the Rams’ improvement through the season a year ago, he cited getting the ball to the playmaker.
Brown is playing the same coy game as last year’s top MWC pass catcher, ex-BYU wide receiver Austin Collie, about an early departure for the NFL. Brown said he follows Collie’s rookie success with Indianapolis.
“I enjoy watching someone I played against do well in the NFL,” Brown said.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
