Rice Creamed

The UCLA Bruins still might not know just how good of a football team they have, but they proved to be much better than overmatched Rice on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.

Drew Olson passed for three touchdowns, two to Junior Taylor, and Maurice Drew scored twice to lead UCLA to a 63-21 victory, the largest ever under Coach Karl Dorrell.

The Bruins, who improved to 2-0, finished with 578 total yards, compared to 255 for Rice. UCLA scored on its first seven possessions and the Bruins’ 49 points in the first half were the most in a half since they scored 56 against Colorado in 1980.

“Here’s a team that we were supposed to win against decisively and it was nice to see that come true,” Dorrell said. “We were in command of the game from the start to finish.”

Olson completed 18 of 25 passes for 296 yards and found eight receivers. Drew had 95 rushing in 11 carries and returned a punt for a touchdown for the second consecutive week.

“This performance on offense was great to see,” Dorrell said. “We made some big plays and we do have some wide receivers. Drew [Olson] was on fire in that first half ... it was like he couldn’t make an incompletion.”

UCLA’s attack was so strong, the Bruins didn’t need a big game from tight end Marcedes Lewis, who finished with two catches for 27 yards after having seven for 131 in last week’s victory at San Diego State.

“We knew that they were going to come out and bracket me and we wanted to get other receivers involved,” Lewis said. “We’re looking forward to Oklahoma [next Saturday] because we know that’s going to be a strong game.”

UCLA’s offense got the job done early, and it was the Bruins’ defense that made sure Rice never threatened with the Owls’ new-look spread offense, which had UCLA worried heading into Saturday.

Rice, which led the nation in rushing in 2004, broke a few big gains, but for the most part, the Owls never hurt the Bruins as they finished with 192 yards rushing, an average of 3.9 a carry.

For the second week in a row, the Bruins scored the first time they had the football. But instead of scoring on the first play as they did against San Diego State, the Bruins needed three plays to score against Rice following the opening kickoff.

Taylor finished the 88-yard drive by grabbing a short pass and turning it into a 39-yard touchdown to give UCLA a 7-0 lead 73 seconds into the game.

Rice, which was playing its first game of the season, bounced back after UCLA’s first score. Thanks to a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Bruins’ Justin London, who hit quarterback Joel Armstrong after an incompletion on third down, the Owls drove 65 yards in eight plays to tie the score on a 23-yard scramble by Armstrong.

But that would be the last time Rice made the Bruins sweat.

UCLA turned the game into a blowout with 35 unanswered points, en route to a 49-14 lead at halftime.

“That first drive was tough on us because we didn’t know how to judge their speed,” UCLA safety Jarrad Page said. “Once they scored on that first drive, we knew that we had them. We did what we had to do and that’s stop their option.”

Basically, the Bruins did whatever they wanted against the Owls, who did not seem to have a clue about how to stop UCLA’s offense. When the Bruins wanted to run, Drew or Chris Markey provided big gains. When a completion was needed, they turned to Olson, who was 15 of 20 for 263 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

Drew scored his first touchdown of the game to give UCLA a 14-7 lead when he scored from four yards out. Fullback Michael Pitre extended the Bruins’ lead to 21-7 on a six-yard run at the end of the first quarter.

Taylor caught his second touchdown pass to start the scoring in the second quarter, when he and Olson hooked up on a 10-yard slant. The Bruins took a 35-7 lead on a 66-yard punt return by Drew, who tied Darryl Henley’s record of two punt returns for touchdowns in a season.

The Owls scored their second touchdown on a one-yard run by Marcus Rucker, but the score was sandwiched by two UCLA touchdowns. The Bruins’ final two scores of the first half came on Markey’s two-yard run and Brandon Breazell’s 11-yard touchdown catch.

The second half was mainly a time for Bruin reserves. Rice scored a third touchdown on a three-yard run by Tommy Henderson to cap a drive to start the third quarter.

UCLA scored its eighth touchdown when defensive end Nikola Dragovich forced a fumble that was picked up by Bruin linebacker Christian Taylor, who returned it four yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Freshman running back Kahlil Bell finished the scoring for the Bruins with a 22-yard run.

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Lonnie White’s keys to the game, and how the Bruins measured up:

1. Turn Olson loose -- In the first half, the Bruins rolled behind Drew Olson, who completed 15 of 20 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns.

2. Stop the option -- Rice led the nation in rushing in 2004 but struggled against the Bruins’ defense while the game was in doubt.

3. Avoid punting game -- For the second week in a row, UCLA jumped out to a huge lead and did not punt before halftime.