UCLA’s Darren Schager Put His Best Foot Forward This Season : Football: Improved confidence and better technique helped Bruin punter boot the team into the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin.

Darren Schager always pictured himself playing in the Rose Bowl game, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that he looked at the back of a photograph and realized it was his destiny.

Schager, UCLA’s punter, was perusing some old family photos when he came upon a childhood snapshot of himself in a football uniform. Schager was familiar with the picture, but did not realize that his grandmother had left an inscription on the back.

“The year before that picture was taken, my family had gone to the Rose Bowl game,” Schager said. “My grandma had written, ‘Someday, you’re going to play in the Rose Bowl.’

“Now, here I am getting ready to play in the Rose Bowl. Pretty amazing.”

Some might use the same adjectives to describe Schager’s development since graduating from Western Christian High in 1990. Schager, a Monrovia resident, made the team as a walk-on in 1990. He punted in one game against Michigan, but was granted a substitute year of eligibility because of injury. In 1991, he won the starting job late in the season. Last season, he earned a full scholarship two games into the season after averaging 46 yards per kick against Brigham Young. He finished with a 41.9-yard average.

This season, Schager averaged 42 yards for 64 kicks and was selected first-team All-Pacific 10 Conference. Schager, 6-foot, 194 pounds, did not have a punt blocked or returned for a touchdown as the Bruins won a share of the Pac-10 championship and earned a New Year’s Day date with Wisconsin.

Schager, who kicks with his left foot, ranks 18th in the nation for average and 13th in net average (38.4 yards), which is determined by the length of a kick and subsequent return.

“This year, more than any other, I’ve been consistent,” Schager said. “I didn’t start out as hot as last season, but I also didn’t have any real low spots. I just kept hitting the ball better as the season went on.”

Schager said a number of factors contributed to his success this season.

First and foremost was the confidence he possessed entering the year as the team’s No. 1 punter. For the first time in his collegiate career, Schager was not forced to wage a daily battle to keep his job.

“Knowing I was going to be the guy helped me prepare during the off-season,” Schager said. “It helped me focus on getting ready rather than worrying about who I had to beat out to play.”

Schager’s leg strength has always been good. But his consistency this season is a result of improved work with his hands.

“It sounds strange, but punting has a lot to do with hands,” Schager said. “You have to catch the snap, get the laces on the ball up and drop the ball so it isn’t spinning when you kick it.”

Schager has also benefited from UCLA’s redesigned punt coverage. Last season, the Bruins employed a formation that bunched players tightly along the line of scrimmage. Opponents still blocked one punt and returned two for touchdowns.

This season, the punt formation includes two players that line up wide of where the ball is marked.

“The change in formation has really helped,” Schager said. “I have to be a little quicker getting the ball off, but there have been times this season where I hit a ball that wasn’t very high and our two guys were able to get downfield and make the return man call for a fair catch.

“That kind of thing can really help a team. When you put your opponent in tough field position and give your defense a chance to hold them, you’ve done your job.”

Schager’s long-range goal of securing a job in the NFL seems more likely with each collegiate kick. Next season, he hopes to increase his average without sacrificing hang time and help the Bruins return to the Rose Bowl.

“You can’t think too far ahead,” Schager said. “It’s just like when you’re playing in a game. One kick at a time.”