NEW ORLEANS — Southern Miss freshman sensation DeAndre Brown took flight in the end zone during Sunday’s New Orleans Bowl against Troy to get his hands on a pass by Austin Davis.

Then things went horribly wrong. His left leg buckled in a ghastly fashion as he came down, the ball falling incomplete to the turf. He unbuckled his chin strap and flung his helmet away in pain and disgust, a grimace painted on his face.

After the contest, the injury was revealed as a broken lower left leg. No other details were provided.

Troy cornerback Jorrick Calvin, who was on the other side of the play from Brown, didn’t see the fall himself, but was nonetheless mortified by the result.

“I didn’t see it, no, because I was on the sidelines,” Calvin said. “It was just real nasty.”

The silence from the gold-clad faithful said it all, even before the replay.

“All I know is that it was a break,” USM coach Larry Fedora said. “I don’t know anything beyond that. I asked him how he was doing, he said fine and I told him we were going to win this football game. That was it.”

The Ocean Springs native was put onto a cart and led away to an ambulance, but still managed to surprise his coach.

“He smiled, through clenched teeth because he was in a little bit of pain,” Fedora said. “He’ll be fine.”

Without Brown, the USM offense struggled for much of the game before erasing a 10-point deficit to earn a 30-27 victory in overtime.

The 6-foot-6 freshman had amazed fans all season with his big hands and penchant for the big play. He caught 67 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns, good enough to lead all Football Bowl Subdivision freshmen in those categories.