Demetrice Martin, UCLA’s defensive backs coach, recently said he felt like “a kid at Christmastime getting to open up my packages” when it came to working with his players during training camp.
That could make Christian Kirk the Grinch who stole the season opener Sunday at the Rose Bowl. The Texas A&M junior receiver can sink a secondary into perpetual gloom with his play-making abilities.
UCLA coach Jim Mora labeled Kirk as “a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate” even though no receiver has won that award since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991.