Price May Be Right

The breeze and the setting sun made for cool late-afternoon temperatures.

“It’s great today,” Craig Walendy said Monday. “It’s great.”

Football weather.

“It’s pretty apropos,” he said. “My first day back, it feels like it usually does.”

It just didn’t look it.

By the time Walendy had rejoined his UCLA teammates for the light workout, the first of his senior season, the setbacks resulting from a mystery infection were impossible to ignore: three weeks of practice gone, as well as the opening game against Texas.

Oh, and maybe his job.

Durell Price has it now, his longevity as a starter among the issues to be decided when the Bruins play Saturday at Houston. So goes the latest turn in the career that has amazed even Price.

For one thing, the only time Price was supposed to be a full back was after he’d eaten a big meal. He arrived at UCLA from Sylmar High in the fall of 1996 as a tailback, then switched, grudgingly, when coaches convinced him that his speed was fullback speed, not tailback speed.

Before spring practice, Price had considered redshirting, which would have given him two seasons as No. 1 after Walendy’s graduation.

But Price decided to play this season and given the opportunity to move to the opening lineup against Texas, played well. He gained only 15 yards in six carries but provided the lead blocking on touchdown runs by Jermaine Lewis and DeShaun Foster, the one area where the Bruins most expected to miss Walendy. Plus, three of his runs were good for first downs, two of those on third-down plays.

“Just move the pile and get the first down,” quarterback Cade McNown said of Price’s workman-like showing.

Coach Bob Toledo said, “He ran well, blocked real well, caught the ball twice coming out of the backfield. I was really pleased with his performance.”

All of which sets up Price’s next opportunity: staying in the opening lineup.

“That’s sort of the way I was looking at it,” he said, “OK, now that Craig went down, I’m not looking at this as a temporary thing just to hand it over when he comes back.

“Competition makes everyone better, and I’m looking forward to being the starting fullback on Saturday. I’m looking forward to trying my best to hold on to the position.

“I’ve analyzed that. If I come out here and show the coaches that they can trust in me to be the man and not just the temporary starter who had a fluke, lucky game or a good game, if I can show them that I’m consistent at playing a good game, then, yeah, I’m feeling comfortable as far as I should be the starter.

“I never want to say you can wrap it up, because in football, anything happens. Walendy, he’s been starting for the last two years, and the coaches know that. The coaches know that he can put some things together and he’s a gamer. He knows how to play football and if I get comfortable at any time about being the starter and I slack off, it’s gone that quick.

“That’s one thing I tell myself before every practice--’You have to go hard right now because you’ve got two people behind you who want the job. If you slack off, the coaches want to put the best people on the field, so you’re going to have to go hard.’ I’ve been able to sort of deal with that and use that as motivation.”

Price is a better runner, Walendy a better blocker. Both can catch the ball. So it may turn out that the fullback battle has just begun.

On the other hand, another good showing by Price could end the uncertainty.

“Durell’s still the starter,” Walendy said. “It’s going to be that way until I come out and prove I’m back in my natural form. Depending on how rusty I am or how quick I recover and get back into things, that’s what will determine it.

“The best man will play. Durell’s really good. If he’s the best guy, then he’ll play. That’s all there is to it.”

Sounds simple enough. Except for that little matter of deciding who is the best man.

“There’s no question,” Walendy said, insisting he has not lost the job. “I know what I’m capable of. There’s a reason I’m confident. You have to be.”

Said Price, “I have to be on top of my game. I have to work harder, now that I’m the starter, than if I was the second string, trying to become the starter. It’s easier to go for a position than it is to hold a position.

“It’s sort of like the thing that Coach Toledo was saying. It’s not easy becoming fourth in the nation, but it’s a lot harder to stay fourth in the nation. And that’s one thing I want to do. I want to work hard and stay the starter.”