It’s the Hype That Fuels UCLA’s Fire : College football: Bruins hold Faulk to 118 yards in 23 carries and ride early lead to 35-7 defeat of San Diego State.

The crowd rose as one at the end of the third quarter of Saturday’s UCLA-San Diego State game to salute UCLA’s defense.

The Bruins contained San Diego State tailback Marshall Faulk in handing the No. 21-ranked Aztecs a 35-7 loss before 51,501 at the Rose Bowl.

“We were tired of hearing all the hype (about Faulk),” UCLA linebacker Jamir Miller said. “We weren’t going to let him run rampant on us.”

He didn’t run rampant on the Bruins.

Faulk, who averaged 259.5 yards in his first two games, gained 118 yards in 23 carries, including a 46-yard touchdown run. Limited to 22 yards in 10 carries in the first half, Faulk had 54 yards until he ran down the right sideline to score with 10:51 to play in the game.

“I set the standards for myself, and when I don’t meet them I have to answer,” Faulk said. “I don’t have any excuses. We just played a good team.”

Faulk, who fumbled twice in his first three carries, set up a 25-yard touchdown run by UCLA tailback Kevin Williams when Bruin defensive end Mike Chalenski recovered his fumble in the air at the Aztec 25 on San Diego State’s second play.

“I wasn’t frustrated at all,” Faulk said. “Let’s just say that I was expecting more to happen.”

However, UCLA linebacker Arnold Ale said the Bruin defense did frustrate Faulk.

“He looked real frustrated,” Ale said. “When we were ganging up and piling up on him he’d always tell the referee that we were late hitting him. I think we got to him in the first half.”

UCLA was the last team to hold Faulk under 100 yards, and the Bruins were motivated Saturday because of the publicity the tailback has received.

“All through the week all we heard was Marshall Faulk this and Marshall Faulk that,” Bruin safety Marvin Goodwin said. “Nobody remembered that we played great defense the past two weeks.

“Everybody figured that Marshall Faulk was just going to come in here and have his way with us. They even had pools at school to see how many yards he would gain. Some people were saying it wouldn’t be under 220 yards or 250. When I heard that, I said there was no way one man was going to come in here and run for that many yards against us.”

Safety Othello Henderson agreed.

“Coming into this game all you heard about was Marshall Faulk,” Henderson said. “Nobody was paying attention to us. We just didn’t like that, so we went out and did our best to shut him down.”

After limiting Brigham Young, which had averaged 38 points in its first two games, to one touchdown in last week’s 17-10 victory, the Bruin defense held San Diego State to one touchdown. UCLA has given up 31 points in three games, its lowest total since 1980, when it gave up 28.

While the Bruins held Faulk in check, UCLA tailbacks Williams, Sharmon Shah and Daron Washington combined for 278 yards and three touchdowns as the 11th-ranked Bruins got off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1988.

Washington, a redshirt sophomore, gained 114 yards in 14 carries, including touchdowns of 32 and 22 yards. Williams ran for 96 yards in 19 carries and scored once. Shah, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound freshman, had 68 yards, including a 26-yard burst.

Bruin quarterback Rob Walker, making his second college start after replacing injured Wayne Cook, completed 20 of 32 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Walker hit Sean LaChapelle, who had six catches for 58 yards, with a five-yard touchdown pass and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Stokes.

San Diego State quarterback David Lowery hadn’t practiced much because of a severe back sprain. It showed when he had problems handing off to Faulk and taking the snap from center Joe Heinz, who moved from guard after starter Mike Alexander sprained an ankle.

“Basically, what hurt me was no practice all week,” Lowery said. “I felt good enough to play, or else I wouldn’t have been out there.”

The Aztecs, who amassed 264 yards in offense, never seemed to get into sync. They fumbled four times, losing three. Lowery fumbled once and Faulk twice.

Lowery completed seven of 19 passes for 102 yards before he was replaced by backup quarterback Tim Gutierrez with 11:02 to play.

The Bruins scored two touchdowns in 58 seconds at the start of the game to take a 14-0 lead.

Washington capped an 80-yard, seven-play drive with a 32-yard touchdown run with 11:58 to play in the first quarter to give UCLA a 7-0 lead.

Chalenski set up the Bruins’ second touchdown when he recovered Faulk’s midair fumble. Williams scored on a 25-yard run down the left sideline on the next play.

Trailing by two touchdowns in the third quarter, the Aztecs gambled on fourth and seven at the Bruin 36. But Lowery’s pass fell incomplete, giving the Bruins a first down. Washington scored his second touchdown on a 22-yard run to give the Bruins a 21-0 lead with 3:01 remaining in the quarter.

The Bruins added two touchdowns after Faulk outran cornerback Carlton Gray to score the Aztecs’ only touchdown with 10:51 left in the game.

Walker hit LaChapelle with a five-yard touchdown pass to give the Bruins a 28-7 lead seven plays after UCLA linebacker Bradley Craig recovered Gutierrez’s fumbled snap at the Aztec 37.

Leading by three touchdowns, the Bruins became more reckless in their play calling, as flanker Kevin Jordan ran for 21 yards on a double reverse to set up Walker’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Stokes with 4:18 left.

CLOSE CALL: Arizona misses a 51-yard field-goal attempt on the final play and No. 1 Miami escapes with an 8-7 victory. C3

TRIPLE THREAT: UCLA proves that three backs are sometimes better than a great one in overcoming Marshall Faulk. C6