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Since before they became friends, even, Kaelin Clay has done the worrying on Tevin Carter's behalf.

When Clay attended Cal's freshman orientation in 2010, he and the other baby-faced wideouts — Chargers third-year vet Keenan Allen among them — looked around and wondered, "Where's Tevin?"

Clay knew Carter as one of the few prep sprinters who had been Clay's match, an illogical combination of size (6-foot-1, 210-plus) and speed (10.61 100 meters) that had awed recruiters and made Carter one of the most coveted wide receivers in the 2010 class.

Faster than a speeding bullet. Nowhere to be found. The young receivers guessed he planned to enroll elsewhere. But Carter showed up a few days later, calm as could be, without any explanation.

"Like nothing ever happened," Clay laughed. "That's Tevin. ... He's so cool and so chill in every moment that sometimes you begin to ask yourself, 'Is anything ever wrong with this kid?' "

As has been documented, their paths continued to intertwine. Both left Cal for junior colleges. Both transferred to Utah with one year of eligibility remaining. Both had played major roles four games into Utah's breakthrough 9-4 season when Carter injured his groin against No. 8 UCLA.

That night at the Rose Bowl, Carter watched the dramatic finish while nursing himself with an ice pack. Earlier, he'd anticipated a Brett Hundley screen pass and picked it off with the momentum of a freight train, plowing through Hundley's outstretched arms for the game's first touchdown. When Clay noticed something was ailing his old friend, Carter told him, simply, "My groin just hurts."

He was still sidelined a couple of weeks later when Clay prodded him further, and Carter's description scared him.

He doesn't think Carter knows this, but Clay went home that night and cried.

"I didn't want to see one of my friends not be able to chase after one of their dreams," he said.

It wasn't an irrational fear, either.

Although coaches and compliance staff assured Carter that he'd have a slam-dunk case to play a sixth year, the NCAA repeatedly denied his application for an extension of his eligibility clock.

"I had to appeal it like three times," he said. "... That whole time, I was just unclear about what was going on."

Utah had argued that there were nontraditional reasons that Carter had been unable to compete the required two seasons. Staff compiled documents from the four schools he attended — L.A. Southwest and El Camino junior colleges were the others — and painstakingly detailed his medical and family history.

To no avail.

But they kept trying.

"We truly believe that he deserved this last year of competition and hoped the NCAA would look at the totality of it," said Utah compliance director Kate Charipar.

Meanwhile, Carter watched as teammates such as Clay, Nate Orchard and Eric Rowe were courted by NFL scouts at the NFL Combine and Utah's pro day.

If the NCAA denied his appeal, he thought, he'd have to resort to the supplemental draft, or lobby for a spot on a team's practice squad.

Unusually calm as he may be, he admitted when Clay asked him at pro day, "Man, I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to play."

His mother, Rosalind Wright, helped talk him through the uncertainty. Two weeks before the start of spring ball, he went to Kyle Whittingham, who told him, "At the end of the day, no matter what happened, he was going to help me."

With a week to spare before the start of spring ball, though, the NCAA ruled in his favor.

He was still a Ute.

Carter wrote the NCAA a thank-you letter, and each time he passes Utah's compliance office, he said, he stops in to let them know how grateful he is that they never gave up.

As he heard the news, he began to look forward not only to a second chance at his senior season, but a first crack at his old team.

The only current Cal player he's acquainted with is senior wideout Maurice Harris, and then only because Harris is Allen's cousin.

"I probably know one person on the coaching staff," he said. "That's about it. Everybody else is gone. But I still — you know, it's Cal. So I'm looking forward to this."

Carter is reticent about his time in Berkeley. The extent to which he's willing to elaborate is: "I'm happy to be here, more than I was there."

But Clay said Carter always talked about wanting to play safety — from the moment he stepped foot on campus — and that both he and Carter had been assured early playing opportunities that never materialized. For Clay, academic issues and a feeling that Cal should have applied for a medical redshirt on his behalf also played into his decision to leave Cal.

Now on the Detroit Lions practice squad, Clay wishes he could make it to Saturday's game, "because I know to [Carter] it's much more personal than anybody on that field."

They've sat down a few times to reflect about their odd journey, said Clay. He considers Carter a brother now.

"His charisma and character is totally different from other people that I know," he said. "... in a good way."

Carter's second year at the U. also allows him to connect with dozens of teammates he might've never guessed would become close friends. During the bye week, he said, he went golfing for the first time in his life with senior defensive tackle Viliseni Fauonuku.

"I was with him every day, texting him every morning," he said. "First thing I'd do is wake up and I'd go wherever he was at."

Clay said he knows "for a fact" that Carter — who has 20 tackles and two pass deflections through four games — will be an NFL player. Defensive coordinator John Pease describes him as a safety who hits like a linebacker.

Carter, who smiles broadly and is as approachable as he is barrel-chested and fleet-footed, rates his play so far as a ho-hum "OK."

He's accounted for. He's healthy. He's eligible.

At the very least, Clay can rest easy.

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

Tevin Carter

Before Utah • Caught 42 passes for 1,117 yards and eight touchdowns and totaled 84 tackles, two interceptions and four forced fumbles as a senior at Santee High, where he ran a 10.61-second 100 meters and a 21.21-second 200 meters and earned a four-star rating from Rivals and Scout. Carter redshirted at Cal in 2010, leaving to play safety at L.A. Southwest College. In 2012, he finished with 62 tackles, three interceptions, a forced fumble and a kickoff return for a touchdown. He then attended El Camino College in 2013 after failing to qualify at the U., joining the Utes in 2014.

At Utah • Carter started the first four games in 2014, snatching two interceptions and making 3.5 tackles for a loss. He returned an interception against Michigan 59 yards, and scored from 27 yards out against UCLA. Carter has a degree in sociology and is working toward another in human development and family studies. —

No. 23 California at No. 5 Utah

O Saturday, 8 p.m.

TV • ESPN