Some Quick-Change Artistry Lifts Bruins

Adversity came early for UCLA, the way a man steps out of bed and trips on the dog, then regroups only to spill coffee on his tie.

Tough start, but the rest of the day awaits, doesn’t it?

There is plenty of time for atonement in a football game too, as the Bruins discovered in a rollicking 43-35 victory over Oregon State on Saturday.

UCLA trailed by two touchdowns and lost its starting tailback six minutes into the game.

“We’re fighters,” tight end Mike Seidman said. “They had a sudden change but eventually we changed things for good.”

“Sudden change” is a favored phrase of Bruin coaches, meaning a big play that brings the jolt of a triple espresso.

Beaver Coach Dennis Erickson calls them “hammers,” and his team had two--an 80-yard run by Steven Jackson on the game’s first scrimmage play and an 83-yard return of a blocked field goal five minutes later.

UCLA punted on its next two possessions and the crowd of 35,529 was braced for another Beaver cleaver.

Then, all of a sudden, change.

Suddenly, Bruin receiver Tab Perry’s 25-yard catch led to a field goal and Seidman’s 24-yard catch-and-run with a screen pass scored a touchdown, triggering a career-best passing day by quarterback Cory Paus.

Suddenly, linebacker Marcus Reese tackled Jackson for a safety one play after UCLA failed to score on fourth down, cutting the deficit to 14-12 at halftime.

Suddenly, Paus rattled off four consecutive completions and Tyler Ebell scored from five yards to complete a whirlwind eight-play, 81-yard drive to begin the second half and hand the Bruins a lead they wouldn’t lose.

Suddenly, Ricky Manning Jr. returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 16 points.

Suddenly, Ebell raced 73 and 35 yards to set up fourth-quarter touchdowns that answered Oregon State scores.

And just like that--presto, change-o--UCLA (4-1, 1-0) had won its Pacific 10 Conference opener and notched its third win without a loss on the road.

It’s too early to pop corks, but the superlatives flowed.

“There were a lot of great individual performances,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “Cory Paus did a tremendous job. Tyler Ebell went in and just did a fantastic job. Tab Perry had an outstanding game and Mike Seidman was fantastic.”

Paus passed for 378 yards, completing 24 of 32 passes with no interceptions. He boosted himself into second place behind Cade McNown on the Bruin career passing yardage list.

Seidman, a senior, had eight catches for 138 yards, eclipsing last week’s then-career-high totals of six for 134 against San Diego State. Perry, a junior, had seven catches for 145 yards, both career bests.

The diminutive Ebell proved quicker than e-mail, rushing for 203 yards in three quarters. A redshirt freshman who emerged as a dangerous punt returner in recent games, Ebell played tailback only because Manuel White was sidelined with a strained hamstring.

The Bruins amassed 625 yards, the most since 1998 and ninth most in school history. And they kept the ball like a pit bull holds a bone, keeping it for more than 40 minutes and running 86 offensive plays.

“They had the ball forever,” Erickson said. “They wore us down. They are very big on the offensive front and that little back ran well.”

After taking the 14-0 lead, Oregon State (4-2, 0-2) did not score on its next nine possessions. Jackson, the leading rusher in the Pac-10, gained only 24 yards in 14 carries after the 80-yard run.

“That play was a fluke,” linebacker Brandon Chillar said. “We felt confident it wouldn’t happen again.”

Beaver quarterback Derek Anderson completed only 16 of 41 passes and had two intercepted.

Bruin linebacker Spencer Havner appeared to have sealed the victory with an interception with 3:42 to play and UCLA leading, 43-28, but he fumbled during the return and Oregon State recovered.

It marked the first time all season UCLA lost a fumble.

The second time came moments later when a fumble by tailback Akil Harris was caught in the air by Beaver defensive end Noah Happe and returned 19 yards for a touchdown with 2:09 to play.

But Perry recovered an onside kick and Ebell made a first down in two carries, enabling UCLA to run out the clock and overcome a shabby fourth quarter filled with penalties, fumbles and one particularly dubious coaching decision.

Nursing a 29-14 lead one minute into the fourth quarter, UCLA inexplicably went for it on fourth and one near midfield. Paus was stopped on a sneak and Oregon State quickly went 51 yards for a touchdown.

Ebell bailed out Toledo two plays after the Beaver score when he broke loose on the 73-yard run, setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Harris.

“It was one of those deals where we didn’t make it,” Toledo said of the fourth-down call. “We could have got out of the [next] series all right but we jumped offsides on the punt and they scored a touchdown.”

All five UCLA penalties came in the second half. Mike Saffer and Dave Ball were called for personal fouls, and Ball was ejected.

“I was disappointed in the penalties,” Toledo said. “You have to have discipline in this game, and we lost a little of our poise and discipline.”

Occurring as it did in the fourth quarter of a game the Bruins led handily, the unraveling was not terribly costly. Paus preferred to recall the poise his team displayed when Oregon State jumped out to its early lead.

“I just stayed on everybody and said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’re going to be all right,’ ” he said. “After a while, our defense played awfully well.

“The offense started clicking and I could tell things were going to change.”

Suddenly.

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Starts and Fits

Coach Bob Toledo’s UCLA football teams started the season under .500 only twice through five games, but recently have had difficulties finishing strong:

*--* Year Start Finish 1996 2-3 5-6 1997 3-2 10-2 1998 5-0 10-2 1999 2-3 4-7 2000 4-1 6-6 2001 5-0 7-4 2002 4-1

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Steve Henson’s keys to the game and how the Bruins measured up:

1. Take advantage of injuries to the Oregon State offensive line and pressure quarterback Derek Anderson: Brandon Chillar, Asi Faoa and Dave Ball each sacked Anderson, who also had to hurry several passes and had two intercepted. Anderson threw two touchdown passes to give him 17 this season but completed only 16 of 41 passes.

2. Quarterback Cory Paus must play relatively mistake-free against a Beaver defense that averages 2.4 interceptions a game: Paus was more than mistake-free, throwing for a career-high 378 yards with no interceptions and a touchdown. He completed 24 of 32 passes and used nine different receivers.

3. Maintain poise in a hostile road environment and commit fewer penalties and turnovers than Oregon State: UCLA displayed great poise in coming back from a 14-0 deficit. Neither team had a penalty in the first half, but the Bruins lost their composure at times in the fourth quarter and finished with five penalties. Each team had two turnovers.