COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Donahue Takes Wait-and-See Approach

The question, acknowledged UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, is a legitimate one, so he asked it himself: Are the Bruins playing better over the last three games or is their success because of their competition?

“It’s hard to evaluate whether it’s us or them or both,” Donahue said Monday. “And I think it’s probably both.”

UCLA has outscored two Western Athletic Conference teams in the last two weeks, 121-27, and is 3-2 after starting the season 0-2. The Bruins have moved to 22nd in the Associated Press poll, but a game against Washington on Saturday at the Rose Bowl will offer a better evaluation of UCLA’s improvement than any vote or coach’s answer.

“If you take the Washington game and look at it, it’s going to have us playing a nationally ranked team and one that has been the (Pacific 10) conference champion three years in a row,” Donahue said. “It’s going to be a pretty good barometer for us.”

The Huskies (4-1) are coming off a 24-23 victory over California in which they scored twice in the final 2:06.

“If we start thinking (the last two games) is the way it’s going to be, we’ve got trouble,” Donahue said.

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UCLA’s defense has generated 20 turnovers and the Bruins have turned the ball over only five times. In the last three games, UCLA has converted 13 turnovers into six touchdowns and five field goals. . . . Bruin quarterback Wayne Cook has thrown only one interception all season, against California in the season opener, 83 passes ago. . . . The 68-14 victory over Brigham Young on Saturday night was the Bruins’ most lopsided since 1976, when they defeated Washington State, 62-3.