Johnson’s Three Scoring Passes Give UCLA 24-6 Win Over Cal

Bret Johnson threw for 166 yards and three touchdowns Saturday as UCLA extended its winning streak against California to 18 games by beating the Golden Bears, 24-6, in front of 50,183 fans at the Rose Bowl.

Johnson, a redshirt freshman, completed 14 of 18 passes without being intercepted as the Bruins (2-2) won their Pacific 10 Conference opener.

Cal, which hasn’t beaten UCLA since 1971, fell to 0-2 in Pac-10 play and 1-3 overall.

Johnson put UCLA ahead for good by throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Charles Arbuckle with 6:26 left in the second quarter. Johnson’s five-yard scoring pass to Paul Richardson 20 seconds before halftime gave the Bruins a 14-3 lead.

Johnson’s third touchdown pass came on a 48-yard play to Richardson with 4:54 left in the third quarter, and Alfredo Velasco kicked a 48-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in the quarter to make it 24-3.

Cal’s Robbie Keen kicked his second field goal of the game, a 34-yarder with 7:20 remaining.

The first time the Golden Bears had the ball, they ate up 7 minutes 26 seconds while moving from their own 11-yard line to the UCLA one before the drive stalled and Keen kicked a 19-yard field goal.

It didn’t appear that Cal would stay on top for long--the Bruins took the ensuing kickoff and moved from their own 34-yard line to a first-and-goal at the Golden Bears’ one.

However, the Cal defense held the Bruins to no gain on two plays, and on third down, Johnson fumbled as he tried to sneak into the end zone, and Travis Oliver recovered for the Golden Bears.

In the aftermath of the play, the Bruins were hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Frank Cornish, their starting center, was ejected from the game.

Cal then drove to the UCLA 43-yard line before linebacker Marvcus Patton intercepted a pass by Troy Taylor at the Bruins’ 29.

That set up a 71-yard, 13-play UCLA scoring drive which was capped by the Johnson-to-Arbuckle pass on a third-and-seven play.

Cal tried a trick play from punt formation at the UCLA 48-yard line 2:23 before halftime, but it failed when Keen’s long pass was well overthrown.

The Bruins went 52 yards on nine plays, scoring on the first Johnson-to-Richardson pass, which came in a third-and-goal situation.