Price’s Playbook Not Full

This season isn’t working out the way sophomore Durell Price had planned.

Price switched from tailback to fullback before the season when it became clear that Skip Hicks and Keith Brown were going to get most of the carries. Price, who had 61 carries for 235 yards as a freshman, simply wanted to get on the field, even if it meant mostly blocking.

But regular fullbacks Craig Walendy and Cheyane Caldwell have gotten better and kept the position largely closed to outsiders. That has kept Price--one of the most highly recruited running backs in the country from Sylmar High--on the sideline.

He’s not happy about it.

“I’ve been frustrated,” he said Tuesday. “I figured I’d be getting 30 snaps a game, and I think I’ve gotten about 20 over the three games.”

The problem, coaches say, has been blocking. As a running back, he didn’t have to block much, and it’s a skill he has struggled to learn.

“I know who to hit and I hit him, but I haven’t been holding my blocks,” he said.

“It’s a nasty position, fullback, and I’d forgotten how nasty it was. I played fullback in 10th grade, but hadn’t since. It’s a position where you start the game 6-1 and end it about 5 foot 9.”

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Brown was carted off Spaulding Field after being hit in the throat on a play. Trainers said he is probably OK. . . . Safety Shaun Williams is back running plays and is questionable for the Arizona game Saturday in the Rose Bowl. He reports no problems with his sprained ankle.

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NEXT FOR UCLA

WHO: Arizona

WHERE: Rose Bowl

WHEN: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

TV: Fox Sp. West

RADIO: XTRA (1150)