Brian Kelly talks about Brian Thomas Jr.’s big game, breakout season

In four games, Brian Thomas Jr. has already had two games with over 100 receiving yards.

Going into this season, when people talked about the wide receiver room, they all mentioned [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag] and how great he has been. It seems as though he now has a partner-in-crime in [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] I’m not saying these two are the same as [autotag]Ja’Marr Chase[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Jefferson[/autotag], but this is a dynamic duo.

In four games, Thomas has already had two games with over 100 receiving yards. He had seven receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown against Florida State and he had five receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] was asked about the impact Thomas has been making this season. Here’s what he said in his press conference after Saturday’s game.

“We gave him the game ball,” Kelly said. “We thought the plays that he made, the big plays. Really, if you watch carefully, they were bracket covering Malik, they had man-to-man plus the safety inside out with the linebacker low or drop. So sometimes they had three. So we had to find alternatives. And again, Brian Thomas stepped up big for us, made some big plays down the field and we still were able to shake Malik loose on some over routes that got him on some of those double coverages.

“And then when we did get one-on-one, like in the fourth quarter, he threw a dime and dropped it right in there. So it’s really about the quarterback, making great decisions and then finding these talented receivers and them making place.”

Thomas has been great so far. If he can keep it up, the Tigers can go a long way.

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