Cougar Defense Makes It Look Easy : Washington State: Linebacker Childs says that Bruins were slow and predictable as Rose Bowl fever spreads in an unusual location.

Rose Bowl fever has arrived.

Even though Halloween is still nearly two weeks away, Washington State is looking toward a possible New Year’s Day trip to Pasadena after defeating UCLA, 30-17, to remain undefeated.

For the first time since the 1930 season, when they made their last Rose Bowl appearance, the Cougars are 6-0.

“This may be the biggest win I’ve ever been a part of,” Washington State Coach Mike Price said. “We were just perfect out there today. We were calm, relaxed and confident.”

While its state neighbor Washington battles Miami for the nation’s top ranking, Washington State is staking its own claim, after finishing 4-7 last season.

The Cougars were ranked 22nd this week by the Associated Press.

“Everyone is thinking about (the Rose Bowl), but our concept is to take one game at a time,” said cornerback Greg Burns, a former Dorsey High standout. “We like how we are playing now, but we also know we can’t just go to the Rose Bowl after one game.”

On a day when its high-scoring offense, led by quarterback Drew Bledsoe, struggled, Washington State turned to its defense.

The Cougars forced UCLA into four turnovers--which led to three touchdowns--and got a safety. Aside from a 78-yard touchdown run by Kevin Williams, the Cougars shut down UCLA’s offense, holding the Bruins to only 163 yards.

Linebacker Ron Childs made the most big plays for the Cougars. He scored their first touchdown on a 17-yard interception return off a pass by John Barnes, who was making his first start, and recovered a fumble to set up a five-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Brett Carolan.

“Their offense was very predictable,” Childs said. “It was the same stuff that we saw on film all week. It was like they were in slow motion.

“We could tell what they were going to run before every play. We knew when they were going to run a sweep, an option or pass from the formation they were in.”

Linebacker Anthony McClanahan added: “They seemed to have only three plays that they were using. We weren’t worried.”

Washington State sacked UCLA’s quarterbacks four times and pressured them into completing only seven of 27 passes for 77 yards.

A fumbled snap by Ryan Fien during the second quarter was recovered by Childs, leading to Washington State’s second touchdown. If not for Childs and the Cougar defense, Washington State would have trailed UCLA by more than 17-14 at halftime.

“One reason why we are 6-0 is that we don’t have to rely on our offense to carry us now,” defensive end DeWayne Patterson said.

After Deron Pointer returned the second half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to give Washington State a 21-17 lead, the Cougar defense was able to dominate the injury-plagued UCLA offense, which was attempting to come back with its fourth-string quarterback and without its top receiver, Sean LaChapelle, who was sidelined because of a rib injury.

UCLA was in Washington State’s territory only once during the second half, after Donnie Edwards returned an interception to the Cougars’ 34-yard line. However, four plays later, the Bruins had to punt from the Cougars’ 42.

“At halftime, our defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, decided that we were doing too much in trying to confuse their quarterbacks,” Price said. “So, we just went back to our base defense and simplified our defensive attack in the second half.”

It worked, and Washington State’s defense came up with two more big plays during the second half.

The first came when Patterson sacked Fien and forced a fumble that was recovered by Lewis Bush at the Bruins’ two-yard line. Two plays later, Bledsoe scored on a sneak to give Washington State a 28-17 lead.

The second big play came in the fourth quarter when Williams was hit by Childs in the Bruins’ end zone and then tackled by T.J. Folkers for a safety.