Nearly 70 minutes after the UCLA-Memphis game ended on Saturday, right tackle Caleb Benenoch’s thoughts had already begun to fast forward.
On Twitter, he posted a snippet.
“I’m coming home,” his words read.
The tweet referenced to this Saturday in particular – the day UCLA would play Texas in Arlington, TX.
As if it were a future date circled on a wall calendar, Benenoch – from Katy, Texas – has been looking forward to this game since the sophomore first committed to UCLA over two-and-a-half years ago.
On Saturday, Benenoch will at last get to make his return home, coming back after he chose to leave the Lone Star State for the Golden State.
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Texas was Benenoch’s team.
Growing up, through middle school and high school, he was, as his brother Josh Benenoch said, a huge Texas Longhorns fan.
When Texas rolled out an offer to Caleb Benenoch, a four-star recruit in 2012 according to Rivals and Scout.com, it appeared to be a closed case.
Signed, sealed and delivered to Austin.
“I honestly thought when they offered him, that was where he was going to end up,” his brother said.
Caleb Benenoch’s eventual decision though strayed from expectations.
Somewhere along the line, Texas fell out of the race.
His brother ventured to guess that maybe the feel of the campus wasn’t quite right for him, or that he didn’t want to be another top-flight recruit to get lost in the program.
Whatever it was, Benenoch’s options were open, and another alluring offer soon came.
Baylor, an up-and-coming program at the time, had a selling point no other program had: his brother. Josh Benenoch, two years his elder, was a cornerback for the Bears.
Late in the recruiting process, as Caleb Benenoch was still mulling over options and many Big-12 schools were recruiting him, he got another recruiting call. This one from UCLA coach Jim Mora, who coaxed him into a visit out West.
At UCLA, Benenoch liked the environment and the coaching staff, specifically Mora and offensive line coach Adrian Klemm. The opportunity to potentially play early on also sweetened the pot, Benenoch said.
During his visit, he silently committed to Klemm.
But a week later, an official planned visit to Baylor complicated things once more.
“I fell in love with the place, the atmosphere, the offensive line coach,” he said. “I was very, very close to going to Baylor.”
As signing day neared, for Benenoch, it did indeed come down to Baylor and UCLA, along with Texas A&M.;
Ultimately, the teeter-totter of his college choice tipped one way because of two men.
“I think what brought me to UCLA was our coaching staff, coach Mora, coach Klemm,” he said. “They were guys that I wanted to learn from. That’s really what it came down to.”
Benenoch, the Texas kid, had spurned offers from many high-level Texas football programs and was now bound for California.
“(My family) was a little bit disappointed,” he said. “I know they wanted me to stay closer to home, but at the end of the day, they were happy for me.”
But he knew his letter to UCLA came with a return address.
While he was being recruited, UCLA sold him on an unusual opportunity that he wouldn’t have originally thought came with the decision to move out West: a matchup against Texas.
“One of the reasons I came to UCLA is to play UT,” he said. “It was a big selling point for me when I found out we were playing UT.”
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Though his mom attended the Sun Bowl last year in El Paso, TX, Saturday will be the first time in Benenoch’s college career that the rest of his family will get to watch him play in person.
They won’t be the only ones coming to the game to watch him. Friends, high school coaches, everybody, he says, is coming. They’ll fill up the 25-or-so tickets he has allotted for this game.
“When you come from Texas, there’s a lot of emphasis on football,” he said.
“So when a kid like me comes back (to Texas) and gets to play in front of friends and family, it’s huge for me (and) it’s huge for them.”
Man Down
On the depth chart, Texas (1-1) is reeling headed into Saturday.
The team is down both a starting quarterback and wide receiver to injury. Its two starting offensive tackles will still be suspended for Saturday’s game, and two other potential starters – at safety and another wide receiver spot – could still be suspended.
Yet, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich did not sell the Longhorns short Wednesday.
“There’s a great talent-base there,” he said. “Every single guy on that roster was one time a four or five-star national recruit.”