Bruins Stoke Up, Show the Huskies Air of Ways : College football: Running game doesn’t work, so Cook finds favorite receiver for four touchdowns as UCLA beats No. 12 Washington, 39-25.

Terry Donahue couldn’t believe it was happening again. Miscommunication, mistakes and misfortune were beating UCLA, as they had six weeks ago.

But that was in the season-opening game, a loss to California, and the Bruins had had seen little but success since.

Now, they were playing miserably in the first 6 1/2 minutes and were behind, 15-0, Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

Donahue, UCLA’s coach, was ready to call 911.

Instead, a call went out to No. 18.

It’s the number of J.J. Stokes, who read Wayne Cook’s mind and turned a short pass into a 95-yard touchdown that spurred the Bruins to a 39-25 victory over 12th-ranked Washington before 40,830 in the Rose Bowl.

It was the first of four scoring connections from Cook to Stokes, and it eased some troubled minds.

“Our team was either tight when we came out or flat,” Donahue said. “I don’t know which one. I didn’t know which one against Cal.

“Stokes’ run blew some air into us, and all of a sudden we got half-excited. The atmosphere changed. The fans got excited. The place started getting involved in the game.”

Stokes had 10 receptions for 190 yards, half on the school-record play that cut Washington’s lead to 15-7. He tied a school record with his four touchdowns, and with Stokes as his primary target, Cook had a 294-yard day, completing 22 of 35 passes.

They had to be on for 22nd-ranked UCLA, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, to win. The script wasn’t working.

“We came into the game believing that we could run on them, but as the game unfolded, it became apparent that we could not win the game on the ground,” Donahue said.

That became apparent on the Bruins’ first series. Washington then took a 7-0 lead on Napoleon Kaufman’s three-yard touchdown run.

A safety after a fumbled snap made the score 9-0. Another touchdown run by Kaufman, this of one yard, and it was 15-0, and only Kaufman’s two fumbles, one on the Bruin two-yard line and the other on the four, kept it from being a blowout.

“A lot of times, they had more defenders in the middle than we had blockers,” Cook said. “When that happens, you can’t run. And when that happens, you’ve got to throw the ball. That’s just the way football is: When you take away something, something else has got to be there.”

In this case, taking away outside defenders to bunch the middle meant Stokes was dealing with one Washington defensive back at a time, and none of them were up to the task.

On the first touchdown play, Reggie Reser, who is 5 feet 10 and 180 pounds, took on Stokes, who is 6-4 1/2, 215. On third and six from his five-yard line, Cook threw quickly to Stokes, who caught the ball inside Reser, threw him off and started upfield. Russell Hairston caught up at the 35, but a cutback took care of him and David Killpatrick tripped over his teammate.

“It was a sight adjust,” said Stokes, meaning that he was adjusting his route when he saw the defense’s reaction at the snap of the ball. Cook was mentally adjusting along with him.

“I saw (Hairston) coming up from the outside, and I just spun to the outside,” Stokes said. “From there, you couldn’t see anything but the goal line.”

When Stokes crossed it, it was a sign of things to come and, perhaps more important to the Bruins, that the bad times had ended.

“As long as he’s single-covered, he’s the guy I’ve got to go to,” Cook said.

He went to Stokes for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:58 to play in the half, Stokes beating Louis Jones and making a diving catch in the end zone. It made things 18-14 at halftime, and the message was clear.

“I told our team at halftime that anything bad that was going to happen to us had happened,” Donahue said. “We were down by only four points and had been playing lousy.”

The deficit was erased on another touchdown pass from Cook to Stokes, this covering 22 yards, with Josh Moore as the victim. On third and four, Cook went to Stokes on a slant, and Stokes shook off Moore, who is bigger than Reser, but not big enough.

It gave the Bruins a 21-18 lead, which became 24-18 on Bjorn Merten’s 24-yard field goal and 32-18 on Stokes’ six-yard reception with 8:42 to play. Again, Reser was victimized.

By this time, the Huskies (4-2, 2-1) were cheating a safety, usually Lamar Lyons, in Stokes’ direction, which opened up the middle for the running game and for passes to tight end Brian Allen, Kevin Jordan and Mike Nguyen. Cook mixed up the plays, frequently overriding calls from the sidelines after he had sized up the defense.

“In the second half, the coaches called all pass plays and just told me to adjust from there, to call the runs,” Cook said.

But the 32-18 lead looked precarious when Cook faded to pass with 5:11 to play and was hit by linebacker Steve Springstead. Cook fumbled, Jamal Fontaine recovered and his 31-yard return to the UCLA 12 evoked a recent memory.

Washington had come from 23-10 down in the final minutes to beat Cal the week before.

“We knew what they did last week against Cal, and that’s one of the things we echoed on the sideline,” safety Marvin Goodwin said. “But we’re not Cal.”

That defense nailed Washington quarterback Damon Huard on an option play, with George Kase and Tommy Bennett getting the stop. Huard suffered a rib injury, and the Huskies brought on Eric Bjornson. He threw to D.J. McCarthy for a touchdown, making the score 32-25.

The Huskies’ defense then forced a punt and got the ball on their 49, but on third down, Goodwin intercepted Bjornson’s pass.

UCLA failed to convert a fourth-down play on Washington’s 29, giving the Huskies another chance, with 56 seconds to play. Bjornson tried to pass to Joe Kralick, but UCLA’s Teddy Lawrence flashed in front of Kralick for the interception and had a clear path to the end zone.

“We’ve turned a corner,” said end Matt Werner, who had six tackles, including a sack, and forced a fumble. “From the second quarter on, we played great.”

Bruin on a Binge

UCLA’s J.J. Stokes has 10 touchdown receptions in the last three games, but he has been on a hot streak since the last game of last season. Here are his statistics since then:

Date Opponent Rec. Yds. TD TD plays Nov. 11, ’92 USC 6 263* 3 57, 29, 90 Sept. 4, ’93 California 7 106 1 5 Sept. 18, ’93 Nebraska 6 65 0 None Sept. 25, ’93 Stanford 3 17 1 6 Sept. 30, ’93 San Diego St. 5 164 3 36, 16, 50 Oct. 9, ’93 BYU 5 61 3 15, 19, 3 Oct. 16, ’93 Washington 10 190 4** 95*, 18, 22, 6

* School Record.

** Ties school record.

Note: Stokes’ 12 touchdown receptions this season are a school record. His 19 career touchdown receptions are one short of Jojo Townsell’s school record.