Bruins Play Like Second to None

The home to all those tombstones bearing the names of those who had come before and failed miserably became the site of a Bruin revival on Saturday night, a 52-28 victory over No. 10 Arizona in the Pacific 10 showdown that lacked many of the usual UCLA stars but still produced a resounding win.

Playing without several starters because of injury and suspension, and despite a below-average performance from Cade McNown, the Bruins gained a major advantage in the conference race, if not beyond. Coupled with Nebraska’s loss earlier, it today should move them up to No. 2 in the nation before another meeting with another undefeated team from the Pac-10 next week at the Rose Bowl, Oregon.

“We just came out here and probed what we have to prove,” said freshman Robert Thomas, one of the young linebackers who stepped in the absence of Michael Wiley and the limited play of Ramogi Huma.

Added Coach Bob Toledo, who told his players before the game of the Nebraska loss: “That was the key thing. We responded to some adversity and we showed great character.”

UCLA held a 31-28 lead after three quarters, but blew the game open from there, getting touchdown runs of 54 and 20 yards from Phoenix native Keith Brown and a 64-yard scoring pass from McNown to Danny Farmer. The clinching runs by Brown came as the complement to the performance by DeShaun Foster, the other tailback bumped up the depth charts by Jermaine Lewis’ suspension. Foster gained 118 yards in 20 carries to become the first Bruin true freshman to break triple digits on the ground since Durell Price against Northeast Louisiana in 1996. Brown finished with 91 yards in only nine carries.

McNown completed 10 of 24 for 171 yards and two touchdowns, with another on the ground, but the Bruins still improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in conference. Arizona, its nine-game winning streak dating to last season ended, is 5-1 and 2-1.

The Bruins hadn’t been in a game involving two top-10 teams since the 1989 Cotton Bowl against Arkansas, and there hadn’t been one in a conference matchup since Washington-Cal in October 1991, but the implications were far greater than historical by the time kickoff came in the on-campus stadium sold out for the first time in two seasons.

Texas A&M;, of all people, helped make sure of that earlier in the day.

The Aggies’ victory in College Station, Texas, ended what had been a 19-game winning streak by Nebraska--and gave UCLA the longest active run in the nation, pending events in Tucson several hours later. Even more prominently, it created the opportunity for the Bruins to emerge not only with a major Pac-10 victory, but to become the second-ranked team in the nation with a victory over the Wildcats, their highest ranking in 10 years. Or, their highest ranking since coming to Arizona Stadium as No. 1 in 1988 and getting dumped.

That was the start of UCLA’s downward spiral here, a losing streak that had reached four games, many accentuated with terrible performances, come game time Saturday night. What happened from there at once offered the best and worst of the current Bruins, or at least what passes for them these days.

Brown started at tailback in place of Lewis, serving what could be the final days of his suspension for a fight last weekend, but Foster starred at tailback. His first carry, with 2:50 remaining in the opening quarter, became a 37-yard touchdown. His third, a pickup of 20.

By halftime, Foster had 94 yards in 10 carries, surpassing his already impressive average from the first three games of six yards per attempt, and Brown had reason to wonder about his status as the starter beyond the Lewis investigation. Not merely flashing the speed and great vision that had been drawing raves from Bruin coaches since the opening weeks of practice, Foster, a 6-foot-1, 205 pounder, showed strength and balance, breaking several tackles on the first touchdown run and subsequent runs.

What the freshman with 25 previous carries did not exhibit was any sense that he might be overwhelmed by the circumstances, not only playing against the No. 2 rushing defense in the conference, but one that was described by UCLA Coach Bob Toledo as “attacking, and they do it in a very violent manner.” No matter.

“I’m not going to shy away from the situation,” Foster had promised earlier in the week. “I’m going to step it up and play hard.”

This came in the same first half when the Bruins’ supposed No. 1 weapon at any position, McNown, continued to struggle to find his rhythm, a problem that had reached the extreme of completing two of his first 10 passes. He was being forced to hurry his throws, but he was also missing targets. Even his second-quarter touchdown pass was more the work of Brian Poli-Dixon, the split end who cut in from the right side, made the catch in the middle of the field and ran most of the 14 yards for the score that made it 14-14 with 9:46 left in the second quarter.

In that way, the 21-21 tie at halftime was an accomplishment for the Bruins, down Lewis and also missing the precision of McNown but still even on the road against an opponent that had climbed from No. 24 in the preseason rankings to No. 10. Then, with Chris Sailer kicking his first field goal of the season, a 41-yarder early in the third quarter, and McNown running in from three yards out with 20 seconds left in the third, they had a 31-28 advantage heading into the final quarter, even with McNown having completed only nine of 23 passes.

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J.A. ADANDE: This should have been a game for Cade McNown to make his mark. But the Heisman Trophy candidate struggled in the early going, and it was freshman DeShaun Foster who kept UCLA in it. Page 15