Wednesday, December 3, 1997
After a season of special-team woes, the Bruins find that a
standout return man has been here all alongBy Mark Dittmer
Daily Bruin Staff
In a football game, when Team A punts to Team B, it’s Team B
that should be feeling good. Its defense has done its job in
forcing the other team to punt, and now the offense has its chance
to take the field. There should be nothing but love and happiness
on Team B’s sideline.
But when Team A punted to the UCLA Bruins early this season,
that was an entirely different matter. Yes, the defense had done
its job, but what if UCLA’s punt returner fumbled?
A platoon of not-so-sure-handed punt returners had kept the
Bruins nervous all season long, while Team A’s eyes lit up at the
thought of a key turnover.
To solve the problem, the Bruins tried senior wideout Eric Scott
as a punt returner. Lately, when Team A punts to the Bruins, it’s
Scott who is the happiest. Scott has put on a show as the Bruins’
punt returner over the last three games; a show that gets everyone
both nervous and excited, and leaves everyone both ready for more
and ready to have a heart attack.
Now Scott, a senior, and the Bruins have only one game ahead of
them; an as-yet-unknown bowl game. It’s taken him only three games
to make his mark as a return man, in large part thanks to the
attitude he brings to the position. Fellow punt returner and wide
receiver Jim McElroy can attest to that.
"On punt returns, you can see it," McElroy said. "When they call
punt returns, you can see him, he’s like, ‘Yeah, this is punt
returns! It’s my time now.’"
"I like returning kicks," Scott said. "Their whole team is
trying to get you. I live for it. I live for making ’em miss."
Scott has brought more than just attitude to UCLA’s punt return
game. He has also brought yardage. He first got the call during the
Bruins’ visit to Stanford, and responded with the team’s longest
punt return of the season, a 44-yarder. With five returns for 67
yards in that game, Scott was nominated for the conference’s
Special Teams Player of the Week award.
Now after three games, Scott has amassed 178 return yards on 18
returns. In the Bruins’ first eight games, seven return men had
combined for 116 return yards on 23 returns.
Meanwhile, it’s Scott’s style that keeps his own teammates’
hearts beating rapidly. In particular, two parts of that style.
1. Scott almost never calls for a fair catch.
2. Scott often picks up the ball after it has bounced on the
ground.
Punt returners have the option of waving an arm in the air to
call a fair catch. Once it is called by the punt returner, punt
covermen are not allowed to tackle the returner. So it’s a safe
thing to do. On the other hand, the returner is not allowed to run
with the ball after catching it if he makes a fair catch. So it’s
sort of a boring thing to do.
And nothing about Scott the punt-returner is boring.
"I think he feels like fair-catching it is kind of like a
cop-out," McElroy said. "(It’s) like saying, ‘I don’t think I’m
going to (return the punt) this time.’"
Sometimes he leaves UCLA head coach Bob Toledo wishing Scott
would "cop out" more often. After all, there’s only so much
excitement Toledo can handle.
"(Coach Toledo) suggests (making fair catches). I really do
consider it," Scott insisted. "But I always think that I can beat
the one or two people that are coming. I never go out there saying,
‘I’m not gonna fair-catch it.’"
It has seemed that way at times. Twice in the UCLA-USC game,
Scott looked up in the air and waited for the ball to arrive as USC
coverman Anthony Volsan was heading straight at him. Twice Scott
didn’t call a fair catch. On the first of the two plays, Scott
fumbled and Volsan recovered. On the second play, Volsan put a
jarring hit on Scott in almost the exact instant that Scott caught
the ball. But Scott held on. Volsan may have been glad that Scott
didn’t call fair catches, but he wasn’t surprised.
"I used to return punts, too," Volsan said, "so I know what it’s
like. You’re trying to score, man."
Toledo is less sympathetic. After the game, he called the punt
return game "a sore subject" and suggested that Scott might be
better suited to the old Canadian Football League, where there is
no such thing as a fair catch.
"(Toledo is) telling me, ‘Be smart about it. Don’t make stupid
decisions,’" Scott said. "They don’t seem that stupid to me at the
time because I’m back there, I’m doing it. You guys can see the
people coming at me, (but) I can’t see the people coming at me.
When you’re looking up in the air, you don’t actually know how
close a guy is. It’s a split second-decision."
Meanwhile, Toledo and various Bruin players would rather have a
risk-taker as a punt returner than an overly cautious return man.
As Bruin tight end Mike Grieb puts it, "It makes me nervous but I
know that he wants to get in the end zone. I’d rather somebody
takes chances and tries to score touchdowns than somebody doesn’t
take chances and doesn’t help the team."
And as Toledo says, "He’s got a lot of courage, and that’s one
of the things that’s made him a good returner. The kids love to see
him catch the ball with a guy right in his face and then make a
move and then jump over people and try to make a play. He tries to
take advantage of every opportunity he gets."
Scott is one of UCLA’s most excitable players. He has been known
to run up and down the sidelines, yelling, "Get fired up, get fired
up." He led the team into the UCLA student section after its win
over USC this year.
But when the Bruin defense forces a punt in whatever bowl game,
as everyone else crosses their fingers, Scott will stride onto the
field knowing he only has a few more college punt returns left to
go. Only a few more chances to thrill Bruin fans and teammates.
Don’t expect too many fair catches.
Photo by RACHEL FACTOR, Photo illustration by ERNEST LEE
Senior Eric Scott’s 44-yard punt return was UCLA’s longest of
the season.