McNown’s Day Is One for Books

Cade McNown and the UCLA offense shrugged off a woeful start Saturday as the 17th-ranked Bruins extended their winning streak to five games by beating Oregon State, 34-10.

McNown, second in the country in passing efficiency entering the game, completed one of his first eight passes before he started clicking late in the second quarter, when the Bruins scored twice in just over three minutes to go ahead for good.

McNown didn’t have one of his better days, finishing 11 of 25 for 210 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. But thanks to the UCLA defense, it turned out to be enough.

McNown, a junior, became UCLA’s career leader in total offense in the fourth quarter, surpassing Tom Ramsey, who finished his career 15 years ago with 6,255 yards by rushing and passing.

McNown finished the game with 6,320 yards of total offense in his career.

The Bruins (5-2, 3-1 Pac-10) brought a 44.8-point scoring average into the game, but they didn’t look the part in the first period, when they got just one first down, 25 total yards and no points.

On Oregon State’s first possession, Tim Alexander guided the Beavers from their own 10-yard line to the UCLA 11 before the Bruins held, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Jose Cortez.

The Beavers (3-3, 0-3) wouldn’t come close to scoring again until Tyler Tomich threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Robert Prescott with 1:09 remaining in the game.

It remained 3-0 until McNown threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Mike Grieb with 4:21 left before halftime.

The Bruins extended their lead to 14-3 just 3:19 later on a 2-yard run by Jermaine Lewis, capping a 30-yard drive after Mark Reynosa’s 17-yard punt return.

Chris Sailer kicked a 20-yard field goal early in the third quarter to make it 17-3, and added a 40-yarder with 2:42 remaining in the game for UCLA’s final points. He has been successful on 15 consecutive field goal tries.

McNown threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jim McElroy with 10:23 left in the final period, and Keith Brown scored on a 1-yard run a little less than five minutes later for the Bruins.

Tomich completed 13 of 34 passes for 148 yards, Alexander was 15-of-29 for 127 yards.

UCLA had done almost nothing on offense before Alexander fumbled the snap from center and Kenyon Coleman recovered at the 50-yard line midway through the second quarter. The Bruins then needed five plays to score on the pass from McNown to Grieb.