Throughout his career at UCLA, junior Terrence Austin had never had a game like this one.
The truth is ““ nobody has.
On Saturday, Austin broke the school record for single-game kick-off return yards by posting 206 yards on six returns. And that’s excluding most of his 100-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game, called back because of an illegal block.
“Once I hit that first one, I was anxious the whole time,” Austin said. “I just got it in my head that I’ve already done it, so there’s no reason why I can’t do it again. I just kept talking to my guys and kept telling them to keep on making those blocks and opening up holes the way they were doing.”
Austin’s returns were critical for the Bruins who were rewarded with strong field position time after time. He posted 298 all-purpose yards on the day, including punt returns, receiving and rushing.
Though the holes on Saturday “looked a lot bigger” than usual for Austin, he credited the game plan for his success.
“The blocking scheme worked real well,” Austin said. “The guys were out there opening up seams for me, and it just made it a lot easier to read.”
It was a breakout day for the receiver from Long Beach who came to UCLA with potential to be the Bruins’ next big play maker. Even with the high expectations surrounding him, Austin did not expect to be holding this record.
“I had no clue (I broke the record) when I first got in (the locker room),” Austin said. “I read the program. I always read the program every day. I try to have a goal for myself, but I never would’ve thought that I would do what I did today in kick returns.”
The previous school record was held by Theotis Brown who had 188 yards against Stanford in 1978.
PRICE DOES IT ALL: With starting fullback Trevor Theriot out for the season with a torn ACL, the Bruins needed someone else to step up on goal-line situations on Saturday.
That someone was 6-2, 300-pound defensive tackle Brian Price.
On a first and goal from the Fresno State 3-yard line in the first quarter, the sophomore Price came in off the sideline and lined up as a blocker for Kahlil Bell. Though it took three plays, Price had a key block when Bell leaped over the pile to tie the score at 7-7.
“This was my first time playing fullback,” Price said. “I hadn’t played until this year. I played guard in high school, so I was used to blocking. Football is football.”
That wasn’t all for Price who also recorded his first career interception on a pass that defensive end Tom Blake deflected at the line.
“It was funny,” fellow defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said. “Blake batted it down and BP ““ I saw the ball go up and I was in shock ““ he caught it. He tried to get up in the air, but he got like an inch off the ground. He got the interception, a big play for us, but it was funny to see that.”
His interception would lead to a Kai Forbath field goal, putting the Bruins up 10-7 early in the second quarter.
But Price did more than just blocking for the offense and making a pick for the defense. He also made the block on a Fresno State PAT in the third quarter that Bret Lockett took the distance for a safety.
OFFENSE CLICKS: The Bruin offense put up 384 total yards on the day, including 234 on the ground, which is by far their most productive game this season. A large part of that can be attributed to what looked to be a form of the “Wild Hog” offense that Arkansas ran last season with Darren McFadden. The Bruin running backs took a few direct snaps throughout the game, including a 44-yard keeper by Derrick Coleman in the fourth quarter.