Michigan running back Carlos Brown outruns the Eastern defense on a 90-yard touchdown play in the first half. (Photo: Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com)

Michigan center David Molk looked over to his running back, Carlos Brown, and told him there was about to be a big play for Michigan.

Then, Brown touched the ball.

“I got past the hole that the offensive line had created, I had seen the safety, I had seen how the safety was coming down,” Brown said. “I knew he’s not going to tackle me so I’m like ‘Let’s Go.’”

As Brown ran, barely touched, almost directly along the left hashmarks inside Michigan Stadium, 90 yards to the third-longest touchdown run in Michigan history and one of two scores during the Wolverines’ 45-17 pasting of Eastern Michigan, it isn’t hard to wonder where Brown has been.

Or whether he would have been here at all.

There was a point, after Brown’s freshman year when he gained 41 yards total, that he considered leaving Ann Arbor. He was so serious about it, he talked it over with then-coach Lloyd Carr. The conversations would go beyond football. They’d veer toward life.

He went further, discussed it with his teammates, including with one of his close friends and the reason for his limited carrying time, Mike Hart. Every day the two talked.

And in the end, Brown stayed.

“I was about to transfer,” Brown said. “But I knew my heart was here and coach (Carr) always told me patience was a virtue. And that if I waited one day, I would get a shot to play here.”

The waiting kept happening.

He started three games his sophomore year, scoring four touchdowns. Then Carr retired.

And last season, Brown started one game. Missed six because of injury. Gained 122 yards for the year, or less than he gained Saturday, when he ran for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Even at the beginning of this season, there was a question of how many carries Brown would get. Senior Brandon Minor established himself in front of Brown. He was named a Doak Walker candidate and was Michigan’s leading returning rusher.

Then Minor missed the season-opener. Brown ran well.

And he’s been running ever since.

“A lot of people asked me (about Minor), but it never crossed my mind, because I know it’s a long season, you know,” Brown said. “If Brandon is rolling, I’m helping, I’m supporting that, doing whatever I can to make Brandon better.

“But I’m there to support and when my time arrives and comes, I’ll be ready.”

It was Saturday, as Brown ran right through Eastern Michigan. When he was on the field, he was faster than any player the Eagles could have try to tackle him.

If he made a player miss, he was gone, scoring two touchdowns and being a major part of a 380-yard combined team effort, the best for Michigan since Sept. 6, 2003, against Houston, when the Wolverines gained 392 yards rushing.

“We saw his speed on that long run,” offensive lineman Steve Schilling said. “It’s something that this offense has and it’s fun to see.”

It’s more than his speed now, too. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Brown is one of the best receivers the Wolverines have in the backfield. And he’s gotten better as a blocker.

His overall game has improved so much, even as a change of pace runner to the bulkier, more physical Minor, that Rodriguez deemed him “very, very critical” to be out there.

As the 90-yard run showed, he’s been proving it a little more each week, although he doesn’t think he’s reached his top level yet, lamenting over a shoestring tackle an Eastern Michigan player made in the first quarter.

“There’s a lot more I can do,” Brown said. “I keep working hard. There’s a lot I could have done different to get even more yards, ya know.”

Michael Rothstein covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow me on Twitter @mikerothstein.