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Provo • Many highly recruited high school football players pull out a baseball cap to show what college program they have selected.

BYU freshman running back Josh Quezada pulled out a pair of hair clippers to show the Cougars they had made the cut.

"It was the toughest decision I ever had to make in my life," Quezada said. "But I know I made the right one because I am having a great time."

Having graduated early from California's La Habra High School last December so he could enroll at BYU in time for spring football, Quezada didn't carry the ball in his first college game — but he did score a touchdown, catching a 9-yard scoring pass from Riley Nelson in the back of the end zone, a birthday gift of sorts for his older brother, Jesse, his position coach at La Habra.

Quezada's parents were also rewarded for making the trip to Provo to see the player known as "Juice" get in his first college game.

"It was fun to see Josh get his first touchdown as a Cougar," coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Josh was impressive from the minute he stepped on campus in January by his commitment level and unselfish attitude."

What the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Quezada (pronounced: Kuh-ZAW-duh) didn't have that day was his trademark long, flowing black hair, a style that resulted in him being called "Ponytail Boy" in high school. BYU's dress and grooming standards forbid males from having hair below their collar.

"I almost didn't come here because of that," Quezada said. "I loved my hair. I loved how it set me apart, made me look different than other guys."

Having rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns his senior year, Quezada had scholarship offers from Hawaii, Utah, BYU, Washington and others before narrowing his list to the Utes and Cougars.

He said he was just about to choose Utah because of BYU's grooming restrictions when BYU running backs coach Lance Reynolds asked him to picture himself 10 years from now.

"Do you really want to say the only reason you didn't come to BYU was because you didn't want to cut your hair?" Reynolds asked.

Quezada thought about it awhile, then decided Reynolds' advice and some counsel he got from his high school coach (a former University of Utah player, ironically) was valid. He decided that "my hair didn't make me who I am" and settled on BYU.

"I just connected more with coach Reynolds," Quezada said. "He's my mentor. He's a guy I am going to be around all the time, and he's actually one of the greatest guys I have ever met."

At first, Quezada struggled not with the loss of his hair, but the size of BYU's playbook. He says if he hadn't enrolled in January, he would probably be redshirting this season because of the time it took to learn the plays.

"I was frustrated because, man, when they showed me the playbook, it was crazy. It was this huge, thick packet," he said.

"By about March or April, I was getting it down. It was all repetition. Coach said when you get 1,000 reps, you will get a feel for it. I entered fall camp ready to go."

Now he's only behind juniors Bryan Kariya and J.J. DiLuigi on the depth chart at running back, meaning he could get his first carry Saturday at Air Force.

"That would be really cool," he said.

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

Josh Quezada file

• True freshman running back ran for 2,114 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior at La Habra High in California.

• Graduated early and enrolled at BYU in January in order to be eligible to participate in spring ball.

• Had to cut his ponytail to conform to BYU's grooming standards for male students. —

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