It seems like all Luke Austin does is catch touchdowns.
At halftime of the U.C. Davis -Idaho State University game on Oct. 13, the Bengals were trailing the Aggies 24-17. During intermission, ISU head coach Mike Kramer asked Luke Austin how many touchdowns he had and he just responded with two words: “None yet.”
Austin went out in the second half and prophetically caught two touchdowns for the Bengals.
Austin was an afterthought coming into this season. Rodrick Rumble was an All-American, and Derek Graves and Cam Richmond were both ahead of Austin on the depth chart. ISU fans were even more excited about local product Kai Campbell than they were about the junior wide receiver.
Despite the lack of recognition and balls thrown his way, Austin is leading the Bengals in touchdowns. This season he has caught 34 passes and has scored six times for an 18 percent touchdown-to-catch ratio.
There are still four games left in the season and Austin has already tripled the amount of touchdowns for his career. In 2011 he found the end zone twice as he finished the season with 35 receptions. He didn’t catch any passes his freshman year.
It doesn’t even matter who is throwing the ball to him. Against Nebraska he scored the only touchdown off of a pass from backup punter C.J. Reyes.
Kramer has emphasized the need for his receivers to get yards and especially touchdowns after receptions. It’s been a problem that has plagued the Bengals all year. The solution to the problem may be as simple as getting a lot more balls thrown Austin’s way. Austin has proven that when they are thrown his way he usually ends up in the end zone.
Austin only had three receptions and zero touchdowns in the Bengal’s loss to Northern Colorado last Saturday. He will be looking to redeem himself when his Bengals face the Montana Grizzlies on the road next Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
