The moment Anthony Frias II has been waiting for since leaving Modesto Junior College finally came this past weekend.

For the first time in his Division I career, the former Turlock High star was the premier ball carrier for his team. On Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Frias ran for a team-high 43 yards on 13 carries, averaging 3.3 yards per run to help UCLA defeat Fresno State by a 20-13 score in their season finale.

Prior to that game, the most carries Frias had seen between Kansas State and UCLA had been six, which came in a 41-0 win against Houston on Oct. 28 last year with the Wildcats. The Turlock native had two total carries for four yards through the Bruins’ first eight games of the season.

With the Bruins far out of contention for the Big Ten championship and the revamped College Football Playoff entering Saturday, head coach Deshaun Foster, a former NFL running back, opted to give other players on-field opportunities, including a shift to a pass-heavy attack instead of the usual run-heavy scheme. The Bruins ran 43 pass plays and just 32 runs.

But Frias, a junior, had a leg up on the other three runners who saw action, posting a strong week of practice.

“It’s all in God’s timing,” Frias said. “Throughout the week it was known that there was a good possibility of seeing more action. Having a good week of practice, it allowed the coaches to have faith in me to go out there and execute.”

The Bruins rushed for 73 yards as a team, compared to the Bulldogs’ 62. 

Despite Saturday’s uncommon air raid, Foster’s run-heavy scheming is expected to continue in his second year at the helm as he hopes to improve on this year’s 5-7 overall record and 3-6, 12th-place conference record.

Frias transferred to UCLA during the offseason after being disappointed in his lack of opportunities at Kansas State. As a redshirt sophomore last season, the 5-foot-10, 212-pounder appeared in 10 games as a reserve running back and special teams member, totaling 42 yards on 13 carries and hauling in two catches for five yards. On special teams, he led Kansas State with five tackles on kickoff coverage. “I guess you could say we just weren’t on the same page,” Frias told the Turlock Journal in July.

Frias hopes that he can have similar opportunities and make as big an impact moving forward. 

“I am happy with how I was able to contribute to the team win and end the season on a good note,” he said. “I’m hopeful for the future.”