Win for Troubled Bruins : College football: Led by Abdul-Jabbar and McNown, UCLA puts its woes aside in 45-21 rout of Fresno State.

So it was Fresno State. So the UCLA Bruins were expected to win.

So what?

The Bruins’ 45-21 victory over the Bulldogs Saturday night in front of 44,499 at the Rose Bowl provided a huge emotional boost to a team besieged by problems.

Beset by injuries, demoralized by a defensive breakdown, embroiled in a quarterback controversy, mired in a two-game losing streak and threatened with a potential scandal involving linebacker Donnie Edwards, the Bruins put all their troubles behind them for one night and regained some of the confidence they’d built up with season-opening victories over Miami and Brigham Young University.

The Bruin offense, defense and special teams all contributed Saturday night. But the standout performers were quarterback Cade McNown and tailback Karim Abdul-Jabbar.

McNown completed a flashy 18 of 22 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first true freshman in Bruin history to pass for more than 300 yards in a game.

Tailback Abdul-Jabbar rushed for 89 and three touchdowns, becoming the first Bruin to score three on the ground in a single game since Kevin Williams did so in 1991.

UCLA scored early and often. The Bruins had 24 points in the first half, surpassing their first-half total for the season , having scored 19 points in the first half of the four previous games.

And they did all this against a Fresno State team that is hardly chopped liver. The Bulldogs came into the Rose Bowl with a 3-1 record, they had already beaten one Pacific 10 Conference school, Cal, and they had scored 56 points against Pacific.

But they were no match for the Bruins, who got a season-high 539 yards in total offense.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue had promised that Saturday’s game, regardless of the score, would be an high-profile tryout with a lot of seldom-used players getting a chance to show they could contribute to a team turnaround if given the opportunity, and he was good to his word. The Bruins shuttled so many players in and out, it looked like a practice at times.

The one place Donahue didn’t shuttle, however, was quarterback. McNown started and, when he showed he could indeed move the team, he stayed in there until the fourth quarter. With the outcome assured, Ryan Fien, the starter at the beginning of the season, got some mop-up work.

On Fresno State’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Richie Donati faded back and fired a bomb down the right sideline that receiver Charlie Jones caught with defensive back Paul Guidry on top of him for a 51-yard gain.

Talk about a wake-up call.

It may have been the worse thing the Bulldogs could have done.

Once Fresno State had gotten the Bruins’ attention, there seemed to be little they could do to hold UCLA.

The Bruins got the ball back four plays later, igniting their offense, which responded with 24 unanswered points.

The turnover came on a run by Fresno State tailback Jerome Oliver. Vae Tata’s tackle separated Oilver from the ball with Larry Atkins recovering.

That launched UCLA on a 91-yard drive that culminated in a seven-yard scoring run by Abdul-Jabbar.

UCLA added a 27-yard field goal by Bjorn Merten, a 40-yard touchdown pass from McNown to Jim McElroy and a six-yard run by Abdul-Jabbar before the half was over.

Fresno State had not been shut out in 97 games, a span that stretched back to their last meeting with the Bruins, a 1987 game in which the Bulldogs lost, 17-0.

Any thoughts of a repeat shutout ended before the half was over when the Bulldogs put together their most impressive drive of the night, 80-yards in 13 plays.

Finally, from the UCLA 18-yard line, Donati spotted Jahine Arnold heading into the end zone a few steps ahead of defender Tommy Bennett. Donati lofted the ball into Arnold’s waiting arms and the Bulldogs were on the scoreboard.

Some nights, you take your victories where you can find them.

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Bruin Notes

UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis and Donald Morrison, the school’s faculty athletic representative, will meet Monday with linebacker Donnie Edwards to question him about allegations he accepted $150 for food from a sports agent. Dalis had no further comment Saturday, other than to confirm the meeting. According to a document obtained by The Times, the money came Robert Troy Caron, owner of Pro Manage of Oxnard. Edwards has admitted knowing Caron, but the agent has denied paying players. . . . “This problem is far bigger than any coach or any football program,” said UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, who would like to see some action taken on a national basis to combat the infiltration of sports agents into college programs. “It’s been nothing but a time bomb waiting to explode. It’s the No. 1 problem that exists in intercollegiate athletics” . . . UCLA has beaten Fresno State in all four meetings between the schools. . . . UCLA offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden is among the 12 semifinalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, given to the player voted college football’s top lineman.