WATCH: Washington kicker Grady Gross gets creative with touchdown-stopping slide tackle

Place kickers aren’t often known for making the highlight of the night. Still, the Washington Huskies kicker might have accomplished that in their Friday night matchup against the UCLA Bruins. After scoring on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead early, the Huskies kicked off to the Bruins Kazmeir Allen. Allen shoots up the middle of the field, blowing by the majority of Washington kick return coverage. Being the last man on the Huskies’ return coverage, kicker Grady Gross does what he has to do to prevent the touchdown on the kickoff return. Gross pulls out a move fresh from MLS and delivers a near-perfect sliding tackle to save the touchdown.

You can checkout the touchdown-saving play in the video below.

Needless to say, college football is not soccer, and sliding tackles are very much illegal. Gross did pick up a tripping penalty on the play but saved a touchdown in the process. In hindsight, it is the perfect play by the kicker. Washington’s defense stiffened up and stopped UCLA on fourth down inside the red zone later on the drive, forcing the Bruins to walk away with zero points.

.@UW_Football's kicker had no other option here 😅🦶 pic.twitter.com/nnUKArL4uT

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 1, 2022

The sliding tackle might have drawn a penalty, but it also saved the touchdown. Something that Gross’s teammates and coaches surely appreciated.

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Report: George Kliavkoff sends letter to UC Board of Regents, ‘would strongly support’ reversal of UCLA decision to join Big Ten

The road to the Big Ten might have gotten even tougher for UCLA. First, the board of regents said it could stop the move, and now, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is getting involved.

Kliavkoff sent a three-page letter to the University of California Board of Regents to explain why the board should block UCLA’s move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, according to a report from The New York Times’ Billy Witz on Thursday. In the letter, Kliavkoff laid out multiple reasons why UCLA didn’t fully think through the consequences of the move, which was announced June 30.

Kliavkoff cited multiple factors in his letter, which The New York Times obtained, including travel time and how travel costs could soar to as much as $23 million if UCLA continues to charter flights. He also said the departure could affect Cal because of the Pac-12 media rights deal.