COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 3 : UCLA GAME REPORT : NOTES : Stanley Walks Off With an Up-and-Down Night

He knew it would be an emotional night. Only not this emotional.

Matt Stanley, who attended junior high and high school here and attended about 20 games at venerable Ohio Stadium, returned Saturday night as UCLA’s starting fullback in front of family and friends, then scored on a bizarre touchdown “reception,” then played on the losing team, and then learned in the aftermath that he was a walk-on no more. Coach Bob Toledo said he was getting a scholarship.

“I’m torn,” Stanley said.

No wonder.

Toledo gave the redshirt sophomore, the Bruins’ No. 1 fullback as Durell Price served a two-game suspension, the news about 20 minutes after the 42-20 loss to Ohio State.

“I was nervous,” Stanley said. “It was hard catching my breath at the beginning of the game. I told myself I had to calm down. But after that, I felt like I was at home.”

And after that, he got 67-yard score on the opening possession that gave UCLA a 7-0 lead. He added two other catches for 11 yards and 11 more yards in five rushes. And a scholarship.

“Personally, it lived up to and beyond my own dreams,” Stanley said of the night. “But team-wise, of course I’m upset.”

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The three catches by Danny Farmer were worth 56 yards, including a 40-yarder from Cory Paus, moving him past J.J. Stokes and into second place on UCLA’s career yardage list.

Farmer, who returned against Ohio State after sitting out the opener because of a sprained ankle, has 2,503 yards, ahead of Stokes’ 2,469. Former teammate Kevin Jordan is first, at 2,548, so that mark could fall next week when the Bruins face Fresno State at the Rose Bowl.

The three catches give Farmer 133 in his career. He remains in fourth place on that list, with Sean LaChapelle next at 142.

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Billy Pieper, a starting outside linebacker because of the suspensions, left the game early in the second quarter with what initially is being called a sprained right knee. An MRI exam could come Monday to determine the extent of the injury, including the possibility that there was more damage than a sprain.

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It has started already, even with an untraditional rival.

Some tailgaters had signs with the handicapped logo in blue and beneath it: “UCLA ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT PARKING.”