Oklahoma punt returner and cornerback Antonio Perkins decided to
take
matters into his own hands. The Sooners led by a margin of
14-10, with
just over 10 minutes left in the first half, and the Sooner
defense had
forced a UCLA punt.
Perkins gathered the punt at the Oklahoma 26. He saw white
UCLA
jerseys in front of him, but with a little juke and a little
jive, Perkins
shot 74 yards up the sideline.
“I just did what comes naturally,” Perkins said.
“I was able to use my
speed to get to the outside, and my blockers did a great
job.”
But Perkins wasn’t quite finished.
His second punt return for an 84-yard touchdown gave the Sooners
a 28-
10 lead that effectively put the game away for Oklahoma, even
though it
occurred with 4:17 left in the first half.
His third punt return for a 65-yards came with 2:39 left in the
game
and set NCAA records for punt return yardage (277) and
touchdowns (3), to
the delight of the Sooner fans, coaches and his teammates.
“We were aware he was close to the record,” Oklahoma
head coach Bob
Stoops said. “I just talked to our guys and told them that
they had to
finish their blocks.” Equally unusual was UCLA’s
decision to even kick to Perkins. After the first two punt returns
for touchdowns, Bruin punter Chris Kluwe directionally kicked it
out of bounds away from Perkins, and to the dismay
and boos of Sooner fans.
And UCLA had that same intention on its final punt as well.
But
to Bruin head coach Karl Dorrell’s dismay, the punt went
directly to
Perkins.
“We tried to make adjustments with directional
kicking,” Dorrell
said. “I don’t want to take anything from Perkins,
but we made them look
good.” Kluwe later said that the punts didn’t go
where he wanted them to go.
The first two punts, while they averaged 46 yards, didn’t
have enough hang
time and gave Perkins plenty of room to work with.
Despite the poor punt coverage, Dorrell said that there would
not be
extra special teams practice, because the staff already
emphasizes the importance
of special teams play.
“It was just breakdowns,” said UCLA linebacker
Brandon Chillar, who
also plays on special teams. “We knew what we had to do,
but it was just
that people got out of their lanes. They took advantage and made
us pay.”
For his efforts, Perkins received a standing ovation from the
83,117
in attendance. He had come close to scoring touchdowns in the
previous
games, but always seemed to be one broken tackle from making it
to the
endzone.
But this game, Perkins felt, was going to be different.
Said Perkins, “During the pregame meal, I told my blockers
that I felt
particularly good today and that we were going to take one to
the house.”
And they did it–and did it twice more.