A Low-Cal Banquet

Leave the keys in the door and forget to activate the alarm, you’re asking for trouble.

So it was no surprise that Cory Paus slipped in under cover of darkness Saturday night and enabled UCLA to fleece California, 56-17, before 65,366 at the Rose Bowl.

The winless Bears were so intent on containing tailback DeShaun Foster they neglected Paus, who had been quiet as a cat burglar all season. And the junior quarterback stripped Cal clean even without the services of injured leading receiver Brian Poli-Dixon.

“They had eight, nine guys in the box and we made them pay for what they were trying to do,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “If you are going to take DeShaun Foster away ... you are going pay with the passing game.”

Foster still rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns in 24 carries, giving him 930 yards this season and 3,005 in his four-year career, which moves him past Theotis Brown into sixth place on the all-time Bruin list. He also had a bizarre touchdown reception.

But Paus, maligned for inconsistency and an inability to complete medium-range passes, was both consistent and accurate in turning a close game into a route with three long touchdown drives in the second and third quarters.

“I knew we could do this,” he said. “It’s not like we can’t pass the ball. I’m glad we showed it today, so I don’t have to listen to it again next week.”

Paus completed 11 in a row during the stretch, honing in on Poli-Dixon’s replacement, Ryan Smith, tight end Mike Seidman and flanker Tab Perry.

Smith, a sophomore whose previous shining moment was scoring the Bruins’ lone touchdown against Ohio State, out-jumped a defender to haul in a 27-yard touchdown pass less than three minutes into the second half that extended UCLA’s lead to 28-10 and triggered the onslaught.

Seidman had a 40-yard catch over the middle during the drive and a 19-yard catch earlier. Perry caught a 58-yard bomb that set up a four-yard touchdown reception by Ed Ieremia-Stansbury late in the third quarter and added catches of 12 and 18 yards.

After a slow start, the No. 4 Bruins plundered the blundering Bears (0-6, 0-4 in Pacific 10 Conference and a school-record nine losses in a row), remaining unbeaten and gathering momentum in their drive to play in the BCS championship game.

On a weekend two other West Coast teams--Oregon and Fresno State--had their unbeaten hopes dashed, the Bruins (6-0, 3-0) gave little indication theirs will die easily.

Not with Paus performing this well. He entered the game last in the Pac-10 in passing yardage per game, yet displayed efficiency and aplomb, completing 13 of 16 for 273 yards and three touchdowns before exiting late in the third quarter. He also extended his school record of passes without an interception to 189.

“I tried to hit my high-efficiency passes and hit the open guys,” he said. “They had nine guys in the box.”

The Bears had defeated UCLA the last two years and began as if they might make it three in a row. UCLA had to answer Cal’s 80-yard scoring march early in the second quarter with two of its own to emerge from a sloppy first half leading, 21-10.

Paus battled back from four sacks to complete his last eight passes, including a fortuitous toss that landed in Foster’s hands and resulted in the Bruins’ third touchdown with 1:16 to play.

Nose tackle Daniel Nwangwu, who had three of four Bear sacks, hit Paus in the thigh as he released the ball, which wobbled weakly toward the middle of the field. Foster was the only player around, however, and after making the catch in stride at the 25, outran two defenders to the corner of the end zone to complete the 34-yard play.

Smith had two receptions and drew a pass interference penalty to advance the ball to the Cal eight on the Bruins’ first 80-yard drive of the quarter.

Foster took it from there, dashing seven yards, then scoring from the one. His six-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter was his 42nd career touchdown, passing Gaston Green for second place on the all-time Bruin list.

Any hopes UCLA had of posting its first shutout were dashed on Cal’s opening drive, which ended in a 39-yard field goal by Mark Jensen. A 39-yard run by tailback Joe Igber sparked the 58-yard march.

As advertised, UCLA came out of the huddle for its first play in a serpentine huddle to honor the late Bruin coach Red Sanders on homecoming. The surprise was that the snap went straight to Foster out of the single-wing formation.

Foster gained eight yards, but Paus was sacked on the next two plays. A short punt gave Cal the ball at the UCLA 45, but the Bears gave it back when Ricky Manning Jr. intercepted a halfback pass by Terrell Williams.

Before the game, Toledo and his Cal pal Al Borges stood at midfield talking amiably as the teams warmed up. And the first quarter resembled a high-stakes poker game between the two.

But the trick play called by Borges, the Bear offensive coordinator who held the same position at UCLA the last five years, backfired when Williams panicked and threw wildly under pressure.

Toledo’s trick play worked. Craig Bragg took a double reverse 42 yards for UCLA’s first touchdown with 3:17 to play in the first quarter. Paus handed the ball to Foster, who headed right and handed off to Perry, who gave the ball to Bragg. The redshirt freshman sped down the right sideline to give UCLA a short-lived 7-3 lead.

Cal went on a 15-play, 80-yard march, scoring on a 14-yard reception by Charon Arnold to make the score 10-7 three minutes into the second quarter.

The Bear prospects appeared bright, but as it turned out, the lights were on and nobody was home.