LOS ANGELES — One hurdle generated sparks in Thomas Ford’s eyes.
The wiry Palmdale High tailback leaped over an oncoming defender before turning on the afterburners and taking the ball 65 yards to the house. He was the type of gem you’d dream of unearthing when recruiting at a school such as Idaho.
Undersized with just one Division I offer, but possessing the speed and grit – the type of grit that NBA star Paul George often references from growing up in the 661, an area code that encompasses Palmdale, Lancaster and much of the Antelope Valley – Anthony Woods was ready to make an immediate impact.
“Hey, there’s a kid out here in Palmdale,” Ford remembers then-Washington recruiting assistant Vernon Hamilton telling him.
Ford, who spent 2022 and 2023 as Idaho’s running backs coach, remembers the film well; he can describe the minute details, how the “top-end” speed the running back possessed could play at the Division I level. And yes, the hurdles.
“I could not believe that this young man was still available in January of his senior year,” Ford said. “I mean, this guy was – his film was unreal.”
He knows that if not for his two years as a quality control analyst at Washington, had he not met Hamilton, or watched the highlight tape of a high schooler vying for his chance in college football, neither Ford’s nor Woods’ lives would be the same.
‘A guy that could play on Sundays’
Just two games into Woods’ collegiate career, he hurdled a plethora of veteran tailbacks on Idaho’s depth chart to become a starter – a two-year span totaling 2,027 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns and earning All-Big Sky honors in 2023.
His sophomore season was so prolific – 1,155 yards and 16 touchdowns for a Vandals rushing attack that combined for 2,077 yards and 22 TDs – that Woods earned a transfer to Utah in 2024 and Oregon State poached Ford to become the Beavers’ running backs coach.
So, it’s no surprise to Ford that, after a year of recovering from a partially torn ACL in Salt Lake City and arriving in Westwood, Woods is one of UCLA’s top performers two weeks into the 2025 season.
“If he wasn’t dealing with an injury last year, he would have been doing similar things at Utah,” said Ford, now Idaho’s head coach. “Anthony is a phenomenal player, and if he can keep himself healthy, he’s a guy that could play on Sundays.”
Through two games, Woods has reigned in 116 yards from scrimmage, second best on UCLA. The redshirt junior is second among running backs with 53 rushing yards and second on the team with 63 receiving yards.
He’s showcased his speed, catching a pass from Nico Iamaleava and burning 19 yards on a wheel route for the Bruins’ first touchdown of the season in a 43-10 season-opening loss to Utah. And Saturday, in a 30-23 loss to UNLV in Las Vegas, Woods burst forward for a 20-yard run – his season high – before setting up the Bruins for a touchdown with a six-yard run to get to the Rebels’ four-yard line.
“Ant got gas,” said Bruins running back Jaivian Thomas, who used to watch film of Woods at Idaho while in high school. “He got gas.”
In a room that boasts Thomas, Jalen Berger and Anthony Frias II, Woods has quickly placed his name in fans’ and his coaches’ minds.
“[He] really took off in training camp, and you can see that he’s far removed from ACL and ready to continue to play ball,” UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster said.
‘Everyone just overlooked him’
It wasn’t so long ago that Woods’ college career – or playing in Los Angeles – was out of mind and out of sight.
He held an offer from Utah Tech, but didn’t have much Division I interest heading into his senior season. Eric Nickols, who was Palmdale’s head coach from 2016-21, said he couldn’t believe Woods wasn’t receiving the same attention as the top running backs in the class of 2022.
Woods earned All-CIF honors as a senior at Palmdale, rushing for 1,580 yards and 24 touchdowns. His father, Rodney, played at Oregon. His brother played in junior college. The gridiron was a strand of Woods’ DNA.
“He was the type of kid that when we were looking at our offensive package and we were struggling with the passing game, we’re like, ‘Yo, man, why are we banging our head against the passing game when we could utilize him more in the running game to open up the passing game?’” Nickols said.
During the 2021 CIF Southern Section Division 10 quarterfinal, Woods tallied 225 yards and four touchdowns to lead Palmdale to the semifinals. It was a cap on a season-long effort from Woods that Nickols said was the catalyst for the team’s success.
“We all thought that Anthony was a shoo-in for a big-time D1 program,” Nickols said, adding he stepped away from high school football due to the exasperation over Woods and other Palmdale players’ recruitments. “And it turned out that everyone just overlooked him due to the fact that they were all going to the [transfer] portal. It was very frustrating.”
‘A man amongst boys’
In his lack of recruitment, Woods found a home in Idaho – and in Ford, a coach who helped mold him.
Ford told the Southern California News Group that he used to carry around a snack pile – with protein such as beef jerky – during workouts and position meetings for Woods.
The 5-foot-11 running back could push over any defender coming his way, but he was still on the lighter side at about 170 pounds. Ford wanted to ensure Woods had the physicality that matched the way he played, a mentality that the Idaho coach said made Woods run over linebackers like a fullback.
Woods recorded five 100-plus yard games for the Vandals in his sophomore year. Against Eastern Washington in September 2023, he bulldozed his way to 183 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
“He looked like a man amongst boys,” Ford said. “I knew kind of then: ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna have him very much longer here at Idaho.’”
Despite Woods’ wandering journey from Palmdale to Moscow, a stop in Salt Lake City, and now Westwood, the breakout Bruin, who now weighs 185 pounds, remembers his roots from each journey. After playing Utah at the Rose Bowl, Woods said he relished catching up with his “homies” in red and white.
When Idaho hired Ford before the 2025 season, Woods was one of the first calls the Vandals’ head coach received in congratulations, his running back sharing how proud he was of his coach. Ford said Woods checks in often with his Vandals teammates.
“He’s just one of those guys who truly cares about the relationships he built here,” Ford said. “And I think that means a lot, obviously to me as a coach, but it definitely means a lot to a lot of his teammates who are still here.”
Ford said he knows he could have persuaded Woods to return to Idaho. But he also knows Woods is destined for more, that Idaho wasn’t the best-case scenario for Woods at this point in his career.
Woods is home, playing in front of his family – and maybe soon to be hurdling defenders at the Rose Bowl. His first game back, he said, is a memory he’d certainly remember.
“Being able to play the game that I love, it felt good,” Woods said.