The midair rotation just couldn’t fully get there.
After an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, redshirt freshman running back Steven Manfro attempted a backflip just beyond the endzone. He fell woefully short, which is to be expected after sprinting and juking across a football field.
“I can do (a backflip) on a short run, but I had no jump,” Manfro said with a smirk.
Despite missing the backflip, the crowd of about 13,000 roared in approval at Manfro’s efforts. Unfortunately for Manfro, UCLA’s offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone cares more about football than gymnastics.
“If he ever does it again, I’m going to smack him,” Mazzone said.
This kind of reaction would be expected from a coordinator who knows how important it is to keep one of his best weapons injury-free.
Manfro ended with 125 total yards and the touchdown return on the day, which was the kind of performance UCLA’s first-year coach Jim Mora has come to expect.
“Steven Manfro has really shown up in every practice we’ve had,” Mora said. “He’s had a play or two in every single practice that we’ve had and he did the same again tonight. … He’s electric out there; he’s fun.”
Scott shines
So much attention this spring has gone to the quarterback battle that other depth chart battles have gone under-covered. One of those is at wide receiver.
With Mazzone’s spread offense utilizing so many wideouts, there is a premium on quality receivers.
On Saturday, an unlikely name graced the stat lines as walk-on redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyler Scott ended with three catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns on the day. He also had one deep touchdown catch called back on a penalty.
“He had some good balls thrown his way and he went up and caught them and got them in the endzone,” Mora said. “He was kind of the star of the show and you love to see guys like that shine on a night like tonight.”
Line up
After an abysmal year on the defensive line where the linemen gathered a total of nine sacks in all of 2011, the defensive line showed up on Saturday, contributing four sacks on the day.
“We had a nice night. Guys did a good job; I saw great effort; I saw guys using good technique. Overall I thought it was a good night,” said first-year defensive line coach Angus McClure, who coached offensive linemen last season.
Redshirt seniors Datone Jones and Donovan Carter each ended with two sacks on the day while junior defensive ends Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Cassius Marsh each applied consistent pressure in the backfield.