UCLA’s Backups Step Up, Beat BYU : College football: Fien, Abdul-Jabbar injured, but Bruins win, 23-9.

It was Terry Donahue’s worst nightmare. The UCLA coach was in the third quarter of a tight game against Brigham Young on Saturday, and the core of his offense was everywhere but on the field.

Quarterback Ryan Fien was at Utah Valley Hospital receiving treatment for a separated left shoulder and his second concussion and second deep chin cut in as many weeks.

Leading rusher Karim Abdul-Jabbar was lying on the bench in pain from a bruise of the lower back.

Leading receiver Kevin Jordan was clutching an ice pack for his sprained neck.

But there was nothing wrong with the UCLA defense. Or true freshman quarterback Cade McNown. Or backup tailback James Milliner.

They made sure the 12th-ranked Bruins remained unbeaten at 2-0 with a 23-9 victory over BYU in front of a Cougar Stadium crowd of 60,379.

Responding to the medical crisis, the defense stepped up to make several crucial plays, McNown stepped in to keep the offense from collapsing and Milliner high-stepped his way to 82 yards and a touchdown.

McNown, a left-handed quarterback, called his pressure-filled performance “fun.” And why not? He passed, he ran, he guided the offense, and he even threw a big block.

McNown, from Oregon’s West Linn High School, figures to have many more chances to have fun. Although a CT scan on Fien taken Saturday night was negative, the early estimate, according to Donahue, is that the starting quarterback will be out two to three weeks. Fien was hurt when he was hit by linebacker Stan Raass in the first quarter.

The injuries to the other Bruins are not believed to be serious. Both Abdul-Jabbar and Jordan were injured in the third quarter by cornerback Dermmell Reed, Abdul-Jabbar when he was kneed in the back, Jordan when Reed grabbed his neck making a tackle.

Abdul-Jabbar had gained 147 yards before leaving the game.

With the backups keeping the game close at 9-3 late in the third quarter, it was the Bruins’ new-look defense that broke open a sloppy game that included four fumbles and an interception by BYU and one fumble by UCLA, its first turnover of the season.

In his never-ending search for more speed on his undersized defensive unit, Donahue moved Donnie Edwards from outside linebacker into the middle, replacing Brian Willmer, and moved Tommy Bennett up from strong safety to strong-side linebacker.

Edwards shrugged his shoulders when asked if he wanted to stay in the middle.

“It all depends on the game plan. I might be playing strong safety next week,” he said with a grin.

Hardly, according to Donahue.

“He’ll probably be in the middle from now on,” the coach said. “He has the range to go from side to side, and he was a bigger factor this week. We have to get him in position to make the plays.”

Edwards’ biggest play came late in the third quarter when he came, ironically, from his old position on the outside, circled behind BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian and knocked the ball loose from the quarterback’s hand deep in Cougar territory.

Bruin defensive end Phillip Ward tried unsuccessfully to pick up the loose ball. But his teammate, Bennett, succeeded before tumbling to the ground at the BYU one-yard line.

From there, Milliner smashed the ball in on UCLA’s first play from scrimmage.

The Cougars got the ball back only to have Sarkisian throw an interception, the ball picked off by safety Ted Nwoke.

UCLA, despite playing with its backup offensive lineup, again required only one play to score.

This time, from the Cougar 30-yard line, McNown faked a handoff, faked a reverse then handed the ball to flanker Derek Ayers, coming around from the left side on the double reverse.

Ayers, racing down the right side, had only one man to beat, middle linebacker Shay Muirbrook.

No problem.

Just let the freshman quarterback handle it.

McNown knocked Muirbrook over with a devastating block, leaving the way to the end zone wide open for Ayers. That increased the UCLA lead to a commanding 23-3.

“I want to be a bigger part of a running play than just handing off,” McNown said.

Sarkisian, who completed 21 of 38 passes for 305 yards, finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter, hitting Itula Mili on a 34-yard touchdown play. A blown defensive assignment left Mili all alone at the three-yard line, able to catch the ball in full stride without a Bruin near him.

But Sarkisian was unable to break any other holes in the Bruin defense, as BYU dropped to 0-2.

When it was over, McNown, who completed nine of 18 passes for 91 yards but missed several open receivers, was all smiles.

“It’s not a lot of pressure,” he said. “People might try to make it out as more than it really is.”

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Bruin Notes

Quarterback Ryan Fien was held overnight in Utah Valley Hospital for observation. . . . Sean Gully filled in at right guard when Matt Soenksen got hurt in the second half.