Frias bolted for his first career touchdown run<\/a>. Later, with the Bruins needing to reach field-goal range in the game\u2019s final moments, he chugged ahead for 35 yards, dragging defenders with him to set up the winning score.<\/p>\nWhen Frias emerged from the tunnel inside the Rose Bowl afterward to reconnect with his family, having starred inside the stadium where he once stood as a teenager with a sign proclaiming that he would play there one day, it was only a matter of time before he heard that refrain once more.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time something happens, he mentions it,\u201d the namesake son said of his father, \u201cand it gives me a little bit more belief each time that he\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many years, the genre of Anthony Frias II\u2019s story seemed uncertain.<\/p>\n
Would it be a hero\u2019s tale? A drama about unfulfilled dreams?<\/p>\n
The only sure thing was the conviction of the boy and his father who believed their journey would take them well beyond the confines of Le Grand, Calif., population 1,592.<\/p>\n
Little Anthony wanted to play football so badly growing up that after suffering a hairline fracture in his knee that was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season, he made his own rehabilitation plan.<\/p>\n
He was only 9.<\/p>\n
Setting his alarm for 5:30 in the morning, he\u2019d wake his father and they would go for a 1\u00bd-mile run to a relative\u2019s home for workouts before running back. With his team on the verge of its championship game, Anthony needed a doctor\u2019s clearance to return ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
One morning, he took a crumpled piece of paper to his mom in bed. When she awoke unexpectedly, he ran away nervously. Sabrina Frias looked at the paper, which outlined his recovery and mentioned that he had been waiting for this moment his whole life.<\/p>\n
![\"Anthony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761220030_882_\")
<\/p>\n
Anthony Frias II was in high school when he stood in front of the Rose Bowl while holding up a sign that read, \u201cOne day I will play here!\u201d and featured the Stanford logo. He realized his dream of paying in the Rose Bowl, although it was for UCLA. <\/p>\n
(Courtesy of Frias family)<\/p>\n
Anthony left his fate in his mother\u2019s hands, asking her to make a choice \u2014 circle the \u201cYes\u201d he had written alongside a happy face or the \u201cNo\u201d alongside a sad face.<\/p>\n
Her heart breaking at the thought of denying her son, she circled \u201cYes.\u201d Anthony went on to score every point in his team\u2019s 20-19 victory.<\/p>\n
By the time he was 13, Anthony had modeled his playing style after Christian McCaffrey, the dynamic Stanford running back who was making a strong push for the Heisman Trophy. That made the Christmas present he received that year \u2014 tickets to see Stanford play Iowa in the Rose Bowl \u2014 an all-time favorite.<\/p>\n
Before the game, Anthony\u2019s father painted a giant red \u201cS\u201d on his son\u2019s bare chest. Together, they made a sign that Anthony held above his head while standing outside the stadium. It read, \u201cOne day I will play here!\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back, Anthony said the sign was mostly his father\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just knew,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cthat I was gonna be so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few shared that belief when Anthony was coming out of high school.<\/p>\n
Starring for Turlock High, which was not known for producing high-level college prospects, wasn\u2019t enough to draw interest beyond a few Division II schools. What was the recruiters\u2019 biggest hang up?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they looked at him,\u201d Anthony\u2019s father said of someone who now stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 225 pounds, \u201che wasn\u2019t the guy they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enrolling at Modesto Junior College, Anthony quickly rose from fourth-stringer to featured tailback during the 2021 season, topping 100 yards rushing three times and leading all California junior college players with 17 rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n
It was enough to earn him a scholarship offer at Kansas State.<\/p>\n
![\"Kansas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761220030_774_\")
<\/p>\n
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II catches the ball during a game against Tulane on Sept. 17, 2022, in Manhattan, Kan.<\/p>\n
(Colin E Braley \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Buried on the depth chart, he redshirted during his first season with the Wildcats. The next season, playing mostly on special teams, Anthony rarely got more than a carry or two in any game. As confident as he was in his ability, it was impossible to keep out the doubt.<\/p>\n
He forged ahead, bolstered by his religious faith and conversations with the father who also happened to be his therapist and best friend, telling him not to worry, that things would eventually pay off.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, we talk it through, I\u2019m there for him all the time,\u201d the elder Frias said. \u201cI\u2019ve been there through the tears, I\u2019ve been there through the needing to hold my son, through the questioning, \u2018What more can I do, dad?\u2019 But he never faltered, never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did seek a new football home.<\/p>\n
![\"Kansas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761220031_372_\")
<\/p>\n
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II carries the ball while running into the Central Florida defense on Sept. 23, 2023, in Manhattan, Kan.<\/p>\n
(Travis Heying \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Before Kansas State played its bowl game at the end of the 2023 season, Frias entered the transfer portal. Then he waited. And waited. Months went by without a new offer to play elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody was coming, nobody was calling, there was a moment where we were just like, \u2018Man, what are we going to do?\u2019\u201d Anthony\u2019s father said. \u201cWe just prayed and had faith, like it\u2019s going to work out, don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure enough, the new coaching staff at Arizona, which had pursued Anthony when it was at San Jos\u00e9 State, offered a spot as a preferred walk-on. That meant Anthony was going to have to take out student loans and pay for his own apartment in Tucson.<\/p>\n
About a week before he was scheduled to move in, Anthony received a call from Marcus Thomas, UCLA\u2019s running backs coach. How would you like to become a Bruin? Anthony told him that he\u2019d need to be more than a preferred walk-on because otherwise he was just going to go to Arizona.<\/p>\n
Less than five minutes later, UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy called. The team agreed to cover his tuition and living expenses through name, image and likeness funds, even though he wouldn\u2019t be on scholarship.<\/p>\n
Done.<\/p>\n
When Anthony giddily walked into the Rose Bowl for the first time as a player, during a practice before the 2024 season opener, he FaceTimed his parents, even going over to the seat where he and his father had watched that Rose Bowl game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cwas like the first full-circle moment that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony\u2019s first season as a Bruin largely mirrored his final season as a Wildcat. There was a lot of special teams work and only a few carries before an expanded role in the season finale against Fresno State.<\/p>\n
Entering what\u2019s likely to be his final college season, the redshirt senior earned a scholarship but no guarantee of emerging from the shadows.<\/p>\n
As usual, his father wore his son\u2019s No. 22 jersey last weekend when he settled into his seat in the family section inside the Rose Bowl, never imagining the name on the back would be one of the most talked about inside the stadium.<\/p>\n
When Anthony took a handoff early in the second quarter, cutting one way and then the other before breaking a tackle on the way to a 55-yard touchdown run, his every movement was accompanied by his father\u2019s voice in the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, oh dang, oh dang!\u2019 \u201d the elder Frias said. \u201cAnd then I stand up, like, \u2018Oh!\u2019 and I see that [defender] chase him and I\u2019m like, \u2018Come on, Ant, turn it up!\u2019 and then he beats the guy out to score the touchdown and I just went crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
With fellow running backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas later sidelined by injuries, Anthony Frias got a few more carries. His last one, on the game\u2019s final offensive play, captured the essence of someone who refused to quit.<\/p>\n
Running away from one defender who tried to grab him by the shoulders, he spun away from another before finally getting dragged down at the five-yard line to set up the winning field goal on the next play.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust all the pain, all the suffering, all the longing, all the workouts, all the late nights, all the no-love, no-opportunity, that run signified the release of that,\u201d his father said. \u201cAnd when he came out of there, he let out his roar. He was like, \u2018I won\u2019t be denied any more.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
In one game and only four carries, Anthony had piled up 97 rushing yards \u2014 exceeding the 91 yards he had tallied in the three previous seasons combined.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made the most of the situation,\u201d UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper<\/a> said. \u201cHe made critical plays \u2014 I mean, we\u2019re not just talking he got some first down or something, he made critical, impact, explosive plays that changed that game and for that to happen for him, it couldn\u2019t have happened to a better person.\u201d<\/p>\nLater, emerging from the tunnel leading to the same spot outside the Rose Bowl where he had held that sign over his head almost a decade earlier, Anthony flashed a smile that his father had never seen before when he reached a jubilant throng of family and friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just was all the years of the grinding and the behind-the-scenes stuff that I\u2019ve been going through,\u201d Anthony said, \u201cand you know, getting opportunities here and there doing different things and showing that I could do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone shouting his name, waiting their turn for a hug, the only thing missing was a climactic score and rolling credits.<\/p>\n
You know what his father would say about that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"His father says it all the time. Anthony Frias II will suffer a setback, like those scary months…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6314,423,48,52,51,16143,47,50,49,1862,16145,4287,1554,16144,1459,10657,278,11466,427,315,1539],"class_list":["post-19393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-father","tag-game","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-little-anthony","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-many-year","tag-moment","tag-movie","tag-name","tag-namesake-son","tag-part","tag-rose-bowl","tag-season","tag-sign","tag-team","tag-time","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}