Quan Bray's big day: Auburn senior WR has career-best performance versus Louisiana Tech
AUBURN, Ala. — Quan Bray is on a mission to become the nation’s best punt returner.
However, if the Auburn senior has a few more performances like he had Saturday afternoon, he could be than just a special teams star — he could also become college football’s most explosive player.
Bray began to state his case Saturday, compiling Bray 189 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in Auburn’s 45-17 victory against Louisiana Tech.
The veteran wide receiver recorded touchdown grabs of 44 and 37 yards to go along with his 76-yard score on a punt return.
“We talked before the season about the seniors and how this is their year,” head coach Gus Malzahn said. “We ask our seniors to play the best they've ever played and he has really been raising his level. In a game like this he really made impact plays to help us win.”
Bray become only the second player in Auburn history to record two punt return touchdowns in a single season. Mike Fuller was the first to accomplish the feat in the 1974 season. It took Bray just four games into the 2014 season to match it.
“I’m just trying to be the No. 1 punt returner in the nation,” said Bray, who leads the country with an average of 36.8 yards per return this season. “I’m just going to keep working at that, and I’m going to let the guys up front know I’m going to give it my all — just like I know they’re giving their all for me. Once the season ends, we’ll just see who the No. 1 punt returner in the nation is.”
Bray’s 44-yard touchdown catch and 76-yard punt return came within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. The two long plays helped turn what was a closer-than-expected homecoming game into a four-touchdown lead for the Tigers.
While Auburn’s offense struggled to establish a solid rhythm, Bray’s teammates said his performance provided an entire boost to the team.
“Quan Bray is making plays,” senior running back Cameron Artis-Payne said. “The return game is doing its thing as well. The explosive plays that we can produce at the receiver corps and quarterback spot, that’s going to help our run game.”
While Bray’s second-quarter touchdown grab was a standard deep ball caught in stride, his fourth-quarter score through the air was anything but normal.
Quarterback Nick Marshall avoided two Louisiana Tech defenders in his own backfield, scrambled back toward the line of scrimmage and heaved a long ball toward the end zone, where Bray was waiting.
“With a quarterback like Nick, you never know when he’s going to take off,” Bray said. “When he does that, we also take off running. You've got to get open, you got to get open. If you don’t take off like that, he’s not going to find you. ... I looked back, and he was running around in circles. His eyes just lit up, and once I saw that, my eyes lit up. I've got to make a play.”
The senior did just that, winning a jump ball battle with Bulldogs safety Xavier Woods to come down with the highlight-reel touchdown.
“They bailed out of Cover 3, and I went through all of my reads,” Marshall said. “There wasn't anything open, but I saw Quan, so I just threw it up there. He made that big catch happen for us.”
Bray now has four touchdowns this fall, which is already a career-best for a single season.
The former 4-star recruit from LaGrange, Ga., struggled to live up to high expectations in Auburn’s offense the past three years, but he said he is playing some of the best football of his life as his career on the Plains comes to a close.
“With all that I've gone through, I’m just keeping my mind above and working hard,” Bray said. “(These performances) had to be in my senior year, but it doesn't take anything but a year to be successful.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Quan Bray's big day: Auburn senior WR has career-best performance versus Louisiana Tech."