Bruins Move, Shake It Off

After getting manhandled by Arizona last week, a couple of UCLA seniors made sure that their voices were heard before the Bruins began practice this week.

Quarterback Drew Olson told teammates not to lose sight because of one loss. Safety Jarrad Page informed coaches that the Bruin players did not feel comfortable playing so much zone defense.

Both messages must have been heard loud and clear because No. 14 UCLA responded Saturday with a 45-35 victory over Arizona State before 84,983 at the Rose Bowl -- the Bruins’ largest home crowd of the season.

Olson passed for a career-high 510 yards and tied a personal-best with five touchdowns, and Page led an opportunistic defense that held the Sun Devils to seven points in the second half.

UCLA improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, and the Bruins, who will have two open weeks before facing USC on Dec. 3, kept alive their league championship hopes heading into their rivalry game against the two-time defending national champions.

“We felt embarrassed,” Page about the Bruins’ 52-14 loss to the Wildcats that knocked them from the unbeaten ranks. “We needed to go out and do the same thing to somebody else.”

UCLA didn’t exactly run the Sun Devils out of the stadium, but the Bruins did play their most complete game in weeks. Olson -- who threw four costly interceptions in a loss at Arizona State last year -- led an offense that amassed 660 total yards and UCLA’s defense forced three turnovers that led to 21 points for the Bruins.

Three UCLA players finished with more than 100 yards in receiving yardage: tight end Marcedes Lewis (seven catches for 108 and two touchdowns); running back Chris Markey (three catches for 120 and one touchdown); and flanker Joe Cowan (three catches for 109 and one touchdown).

“We knew on our side we needed to take care of opportunities to put points on the board,” said UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell, who is 2-9 after Oct. 31 in three seasons.

“This was a great game. Our D did very good things. I’m proud of how this team responded from the roadblock of last week.”

For only the third time this season, UCLA scored first and the Bruins did it on their first snap from scrimmage.

Olson completed a short slant pass to Cowan, who beat Arizona State cornerback R.J. Oliver and then ran the length of the field for a 91-yard touchdown to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead 19 seconds into the game.

“They were playing press and there were no safeties on top,” Cowan said. “I knew that the guys were behind me and I just took off.... It was a huge play because our whole focus has been getting off to a fast start.”

After linebacker Spencer Havner recovered a fumbled snap by Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter, the Bruins stretched their lead to 14-0 when Markey turned another one of Olson’s short completions into a 56-yard touchdown pass-play.

UCLA, however, was unable to maintain the lead when Arizona State (5-5, 3-4) scored on touchdown runs by Keegan Herring and backup quarterback Chad Christensen before and after Olson’s third touchdown pass of the first quarter -- a six-yarder to Lewis.

The Bruins jumped back ahead, 28-14, when Maurice Drew scored on a one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. But the Sun Devils scored the final 14 points of the first half on two touchdown passes from Carpenter to Terry Richardson.

“It was 28-28 at halftime and I knew we got the ball at the start of the second half,” said Carpenter, who completed 27 of 37 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

“I thought that would be our chance to get up on them. We figured it would be a shootout where we would go back and forth, but obviously, it didn’t work out that way.”

UCLA got the first big break following intermission when senior cornerback Marcus Cassel, after getting beat deep on a pass to the Sun Devils’ Derek Hagan, recovered to force a fumble that was picked up by Page.

The Bruins then drove 82 yards in nine plays to take a 35-28 lead when Olson completed a seven-yard touchdown to Brandon Breazell, who initially was ruled out of bounds but had the call reversed following a review.

“I knew that it was a good catch,” Breazell said. “I just told everyone to get the offense off the field and let’s kick the extra point.”

The Bruin defense stepped up again on Arizona State’s next possession. After Hagan caught a short pass, Cassel again forced a fumble with Dennis Keyes making the recovery. Five plays later, Olson hooked up with Lewis for their second touchdown to give UCLA a 14-point lead late in the third quarter.

“Once we got ahead we were able to play more zone and keep the ball in front of us,” UCLA defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “Early on we gave them opportunities to make big plays because we were playing man-to-man and that’s tough on a cornerback, who is stuck out there on an island.”

In the fourth quarter, Arizona State cut UCLA’s lead to 42-35 when Hagan caught a two-yard touchdown pass, but the Bruins added a 27-yard field goal by Justin Medlock to clinch the victory.

“You can’t ask for anything better than this,” said Olson, one of 15 seniors who had their final game at the Rose Bowl. “To come out and play my best game at UCLA in front of a crowd like this with everything we had on the line ... it’s satisfying.”