PASADENA, Calif. -- The 13,000 or so inside the Rose Bowl temporarily thought the show was over. Really, what more could they desire?
Steven Manfro had just returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown in what was undoubtedly the highlight of the UCLA Bruins' May 5 spring game. The fans delighted with each Manfro twist, turn and burst on his way to the end zone.
After arriving, he added a little something. The freshman postured, pivoted and did a backflip. Well, sort of. He made it a little more than three-quarters of the way, his shins banging to the turf and shooting him to his knees. The tumbling -- and tumble -- was captured on the stadium's video screen. Manfro popped to his feet, smiled and sprinted to the sideline.
"I guess after running 100 yards, it's tough to complete a backflip," new Bruins coach Jim Mora Jr. said later, grinning wryly. "I guess we've got to get him in shape."
Manfro laughed off the botched landing before offering to do another flip for reporters.
"He's electric out there," Mora said. "He's fun."
UCLA fans, meet Steven Manfro. The college football world could be in for a similar introduction this fall, if one seasonable Saturday at the Rose Bowl was any indication. (That's why he leads our list of the top 10 breakthrough players of the spring.)
To read the full list of 2012 spring breakthrough players, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
