With 3,865 yards passing, 36 touchdowns and four interceptions in two seasons as the starting quarterback of the Chandler Wolves, Brett Hundley was one of the more dynamic quarterbacks to come out of Arizona in quite some time.
Now Hundley is in his first season as starting quarterback of the UCLA Bruins and is having the some of the same success he had in high school. Through just seven games, Hundley has thrown for 14 touchdowns which is the most for a UCLA quarterback since 2005. He is also averaging 308 total yards per game which is good for second in the Pac-12.
Hundley is the first quarterback to line-up under center at the start of the Jim Mora Jr. era in Pasedena and so far it has been a great situation for Hundley.
“When everybody is up and running I think it is one of the best (offenses) in the country,” Brett Hundley told Brad Cesmat on ‘Big Guy on Sports’ on Wednesday. “I just have to get the ball in the playmakers hands and have them do what they do.”
“Coach Mora is a great coach and the one thing I take from him is he is a great man, added Hundley. “He teaches us how to be respectful, teaches us how to treat ladies and even everything on and off the field.”
Along with the season Hundley is having so far, there is another thing that is special with Hundley being the quarterback of the Bruins. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times did a story on Hundley earlier in the season that mentioned that the last African American quarterback to lead the UCLA Bruins in passing was Jackie Robinson.
“It’s just a big honor to come out here and to play under a name like that, I mean Jackie Robinson is a world renowned name,” stated Hundley. “It’s really cool. It’s an honor and I am just happy to be the starting quarterback of the UCLA Bruins.”
“I try not to give it to much thought,” Hundley added. “I may be the second African American quarterback to step on the field for the UCLA Bruins but it will be and I am just happy to be here and I have to just take advantage of the opportunity I’ve been blessed with.”
There is one thing he does give plenty of thought too when he suits up for the Bruins. That is his sister Paris who has epilepsy. She is his motivation and finds there is nothing more rewarding than seeing her smile.
“She is doing really well. She’s living life and having a good time,” said Hundley. “But playing for her, I’ve stated before she sort of vicariously lives through me with epilepsy and not being able to do the things, like sports that she probably wanted to do and used to do. But now you know, I can play for her and just make sure she knows I play for her and anything she needs, I got her back.”
For the first time since graduating high school in 2010, Hundley will be the starting quarterback in a game played in the Valley as his Bruins face off against ASU on Saturday. Oddly enough it will be first time he plays at Sun Devil Stadium. He is trying to gather enough tickets so that many friends and family can be in attendance. But most of all he is looking forward to an important Pac-12 South matchup with the Sun Devils.
“It’ll be a big time game,” explained Hundley. “They are really good at what they do with their pass defense and run defense. They’re a physical defense too so we just have to go out there and do what we do…ASU is a great team but we are going to go out and play our game and have some fun out there.”
Hundley and his Bruins face off against ASU on Saturday at noon from Sun Devil Stadium.
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Jared Cohen
A born and bred Arizonan, Jared has had great passion for the hometown teams all his life. He now channel's that passion into covering the pro, college and high school teams around the state as a Multimedia Reporter for Sports360AZ.