Smith punted from duties

Junior wide receiver Josh Smith was expected to jolt some explosiveness into the UCLA return game, but only handled the kick return duties, while junior wide receiver Taylor Embree handled the punts.

Smith was honorable-mention All-Big-12 kick returner as a sophomore at Colorado in 2008, after returning 50 kicks for 1,276 yards and a touchdown, and catching 29 passes for 387 yards and a score, ranking second on the Buffaloes’ all-time all-purpose yards list (1,987).

”We just felt like we were asking a lot of him for his first game back with the kickoff return,” Neuheisel said of Smith, who missed extensive time in fall camp with a groin injury. “We had some plans for reverses and things like that and I didn’t want to put that on him. With the wind and the high sun, I just wanted Taylor (Embree) to be very sure-handed with that.”

Smith finished with two rushes for 52 yards, including a team-high 43-yard run, and had two kick returns for 55 yards against the Wildcats.