UCLA punter Aaron Perez gets his kicks setting records
UCLA FOOTBALL FYI
Sure, a better offense would have kept the Bruin senior a lot less busy this season. But he's answered the call and is poised to add most career punting yards to his school record for kicks.
For his team's sake, UCLA punter Aaron Perez wishes he had made far fewer appearances this season.
Given the circumstances, however, he doesn't mind being a Bruins record holder poised to add one more all-time feat Nov. 28 at Arizona State.
The UCLA senior established a school career mark by making the 269th punt of his career Saturday at Washington, and he'll surpass another Nate Fikse standard because his 11,411 career punting yards are only nine shy of Fikse's 11,420.
"I don't know if it's a good or bad thing to punt the most times with the most yards," Perez said. "It'd be nice if we scored more points and I wasn't needed, but when they need me, I'm here to back the other team up. That's what a punter's for, and I think I've done that pretty well."
Perez is on the Ray Guy Award watch list, ranking first in the Pacific 10 Conference and eighth in the NCAA with an average boot of 44.67 yards. Of his 62 punts this year, 21 have gone at least 50 yards, and 18 have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
He would have broken the punting yards record at Washington, but there was a roughing-the-punter penalty on one kick. Another punt wasn't booted perfectly.
"I didn't hit it that bad," Perez said. "I aimed left but brought the ball inside a little too much."
Pugmire is a Times staff writer.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
