Cowan makes it known he’s back

Receiver Joe Cowan, who missed all of the 2006 season with a knee injury, made his return Saturday. The senior wasted little time reasserting himself as an offensive threat.

In the first quarter, he out-jumped a defensive back for a 19-yard scoring reception. In the third quarter, he caught a short screen pass, stiff-armed one defender and cut past another, racing 77 yards for his second touchdown.

“You want everyone to do well, but when it’s a guy like Joe, who went through what he did last year and fought his way back, it’s something special,” quarterback Ben Olson said.

Cowan was no stranger to Stanford Stadium. In 2005, he made several important catches during UCLA’s 30-27 overtime victory against the Cardinal.

Not much for words, he acknowledged that it was exciting to get back on the field after so much time away but shrugged off his big plays.

“You plan for those,” he said. “You practice that way, so that’s what you expect.”

Cornerback Rodney Van suffered a sprained ankle in the second half and did not return to the game.

“I came up and made a tackle and bounced off the guy and kind of rolled my ankle,” Van said. “They tried to tape it, but I was limping around so they shut me down. It’s probably a high ankle sprain, nothing too serious.”

Alterraun Verner took Van’s cornerback spot.

Also, backup center Micah Reed played more in the second half as starter Chris Joseph, who has been nursing a hip flexor, was held out.

Joseph said he could have played. “They just wanted to get Micah some snaps,” he said.

With the temperature reaching 90 degrees in Palo Alto, the sunken field at Stanford Stadium feeling breezeless and even hotter, UCLA struggled with the weather.

Large fans blew mist across the bench and players shoved cooling tubes down into their shoulder pads.

Some of the players “were feeling sorry for ourselves in the heat” until coaches lit into them at halftime, tailback Kahlil Bell said.

Defensive end Bruce Davis suffered cramps and missed the first few minutes of the second half, staying behind to take extra fluids in the locker room.

“It was warm out there,” Davis said. “Normally, we’re out by the beach.”

Christian Ramirez, who moved from safety to tailback two weeks ago, got some mop-up duty in the fourth quarter and gained 55 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown run.

Walk-on quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson made his collegiate debut but did not throw a pass.

The Cardinal scored only three touchdowns at home last season. So it may have been force of habit that the scoreboard operator first gave UCLA the points after quarterback T.C. Ostrander threw a nine-yard pass to Jim Dray for the Cardinal’s first score.

One Bruin who wasn’t happy? Linebacker Christian Taylor.

“It’s great we put up that many yards, and ran the ball like that,” Taylor said. “I’m really proud of the offense. But that we gave up 17 points and when we give more than 300 yards, then we have some room to improve on defense. We have to tackle better.”

--

chris.foster@latimes.com

david.wharton@latimes.com