Wide receiver Jordan Payton talked to the media on Monday with his left hand wrapped in a bandage, athletic tape isolating his left pinkie.
The injury, a bruise that Payton said isn’t serious, happened at the start of the Bruin’s 28-20 win over Virginia on Saturday. The junior got smacked by a face mask, but luckily for UCLA, it didn’t affect Payton’s ability to catch the ball.
He finished the game with eight receptions for 98 yards, more than double any other Bruins wideout. The young receiving corps had more drops than usual, but Payton and quarterback Brett Hundley had a connection throughout the game.
None of those catches was more important than Payton’s last. On a third-and-nine play late in the fourth quarter, with UCLA needing a first down to seal the win, Payton caught a bullet from Hundley and scampered into Virginia territory. The 35-yard reception made sure the Cavaliers wouldn’t get the ball back and secured the Bruins’ win.
“That’s my boy right there,” Hundley said. “He’ll come through in the clutch no matter what. I trust him and he trusts me.”
Both Hundley and Payton talked about how that trust has grown over the years. The two are upperclassmen now, more comfortable with each other. That familiarity was obvious on Saturday.
“That comes with just me growing up and him growing up,” Payton said. “We’ve been here, and now we’ve both matured, so now we understand each other and understand where we are going to be and everything. We definitely have that bond right now.”
UCLA’s receiving corps will get more comfortable as the season goes on — just like Payton has done in the previous two seasons — but a familiar option will only help Hundley. Still, they both know there’s more work to be done, as the Bruins scored three touchdowns on defense but only one on offense last Saturday.
“I’ve been hearing about it,” Payton said with a laugh. “They’ve been talking about that for a few days now. That’s definitely one of our goals, we have to get ourselves going and score more touchdowns than the defense does.”
For more Bruin observations, follow Everett Cook on Twitter: @everettcook
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