No player in YSU football history found the end zone more than tailback Adrian Brown. Brown scored a school-record 57 touchdowns during his career from 1996-99. Of his 57 scores, a record 55 came on running plays.
Brown still ranks second in yards, second in 100-yard games, second in touchdowns, third in rushing attempts and fourth in all-purpose yards.
His career numbers were some of the best in school history. He rushed for 3,978 yards on 875 carries and scored 55 touchdowns. He averaged 4.6 yards per rush, and, in 49 career games played, he scored a touchdown in 32 of them. Brown had 16 100-yard rushing performances, and his 57 total touchdowns (55 rushing and two receiving) set a school record. He also caught 16 passes for 145 yards and those two scores.
His senior year was his most decorated as he earned first-team All-Gateway Football Conference honors. In 15 games played, he had 320 carries for 1,589 yards and 17 touchdowns. He averaged 105.9 yards per game and five yards per rush. Brown had two of the best games of his career as a senior. Against Southern Illinois he rushed for a career-high 198 yards on 27 carries and scored three times. He toted the ball a career-best 32 times against Missouri State rushing for 163 yards.
Brown scored touchdowns in 10 games, including five multi-score games. Besides the SIU contest, he found the end zone three times vs. Indiana State. Seven times he rushed for more than 100 yards, including five of the last seven games of the season. Eight times he carried the ball at least 22 times. In the National Championship Game versus Georgia Southern, he was one of the top performers with 160 yards and two touchdowns on 22 rushes.
As a junior in 1998, Brown was an honorable-mention all-conference pick finishing with 884 yards on 194 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and scoring eight touchdowns. He had a season-best 175 yards on 22 attempts and scored twice in a win over Kent State. Five times he had 20-plus carries, and, on three occasions, he rushed for more than 100 yards.
During the National Championship season in 1997, Brown was an honorable-mention all-league pick rushing for 850 yards on 197 carries in 13 games. His 19 rushing touchdowns set a school record. Brown’s best game of the year came in the semifinal victory at Eastern Washington. He ran for a season-high 187 yards on 20 carries and scored twice as YSU outlasted the Eagles. During the campaign he had eight multi-TD games, including a season-high three versus Buffalo. Brown had an impressive 11-game streak in which he scored a touchdown. He had four 100-plus yard games during the year.
As a freshman, Brown rushed for 655 yards on 164 attempts and scored 11 touchdowns. He scored three touchdowns in his collegiate debut versus Wofford and later added a four-TD performance versus Clarion. He had a season-high 124 yards against Buffalo.
Brown had a stellar career at Canton McKinley High School before coming to YSU. A first-team All-Northeast Ohio selection, Brown rushed for 1,297 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. He set the school’s all-time rushing yardage mark during his career.
Brown earned a degree in history from YSU. Currently, Brown is a supervisor in the Detention Facility at the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
He and his wife Nekia reside in Youngstown. He has five children.
