One is tasked with upholding a tradition and the others with reestablishing one.
UCLA kicker J.J. Molson is replacing Ka’imi Fairbairn, the Pac-12 Conference’s all-time leading scorer. Meanwhile, long snapper Johnny Den Bleyker and punter Austin Kent will try to elevate the Bruins’ punting game from among the worst in the nation.
The kicking game figures to be a growth sport for the specialists because they’re all freshmen.
“It’s definitely a lot more of a bonding group, I would say, than if the starting kicker was a senior, the punter was a freshman,” Molson said Wednesday.