Quan Bray leading the nation in punt returns after career-best outing

AUBURN -- Quan Bray wears No. 4, but after the best performance of his career, the Auburn senior is No. 1 in the nation in punt returns.

The Tigers wide receiver leads Division I-A with a 36.8-yard average on five punt returns, 10 yards more than the second-place Tyler Lockett, whom Auburn knows all about after its trip to Kansas State, where Lockett showcased his game-breaking abilities.

"That's just going to make me work harder," Bray said of the possibility of leading the country after two returns for 98 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown, in Auburn's 45-17 win over Louisiana Tech. "I'm just getting those guys up front a hand and just tell them keep doing what they doing and good things will happen. We'll just see at the end of the season who's the No. 1 punt returner in the nation."

Bray's worked on returns his whole career, but with very limited success. He averaged 7 yards per return in his career, including just 5.1 yards last season while working behind Chris Davis Jr., and did not have a return touchdown in his first three seasons.

In four games this season, Bray has a career-high 184 punt return yards, a new career long (76) and his first two return touchdowns.

"My mindset before then was to try to be the best punt returner in the nation," he said. "Without those guys up front ... I wouldn't be able to do that."

Bray's decisions during returns clearly have improved, particularly since 2012 when he had troubles fielding punts and made very poor choices of whether or not to call for a fair catch.

"Our motto is 'one cut and go,'" Bray said. "If you get 10 or 15 yards, that's a good return."

Bray's return touchdown came just 63 seconds after he caught a 44-yard touchdown from Nick Marshall, his second scoring grab of the game.

It was Bray's first career game scoring multiple touchdowns.

"I thought it was one of the best all-around games he's had," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "Obviously, the two touchdown catches were great, but he's become a great punt returner for us, which is huge. It really lifted our team.

"He graded out and played well the whole game, and that's what we need from him because he's a pretty explosive player. He's got a lot of things he does well. He's smart. He's been in the system for four years, and he knows what he's doing. He can help lead those guys. I was really proud of him making those big plays right before half and when we needed one in the second half."

Bray said he hadn't felt as good after a game since his debut as a punt returner against South Carolina in 2011. He had three punt returns for 26 yards in that game.

"That my first start at punt return. ... I had a good return, and that was the only thing I did. ... I felt pretty good after that," Bray said. "I'm just going to ... keep practicing and try to be the best (so) that my teammates can rely on me."