Lewis Was a Good Decoy in Win

Tight end Marcedes Lewis doesn’t have a problem playing the role of decoy if the Bruin offense continues to have the type of success it had against Rice on Saturday.

Lewis was double-teamed most of the game and finished with two receptions for 27 yards, but the Bruins picked apart the defenseless Owls, gaining 578 total yards in a 63-21 victory.

“When everyone is involved and getting the football, our offense really clicks,” said Lewis, who expects a tougher challenge this week against No. 21 Oklahoma at the Rose Bowl.

UCLA’s wide receivers benefited the most from the extra attention given to Lewis, totaling 12 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns.

A week earlier against San Diego State, the Bruin wide receivers had two receptions for 17 yards.

Junior Taylor led the way against Rice with five receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Breazell had four catches for 75 yards and a score, and Joe Cowan had two catches for 38 yards. Even former walk-on Andrew Baumgartner got involved with one reception for 38 yards.

“Oklahoma is no joke,” Lewis said. “We’re going to need this type of performance where the receivers are involved, I catch the ball a little bit and the other tight ends get some plays.”

Oklahoma (1-1) is coming off a 31-15 victory over Tulsa but the Sooners had trouble slowing Hurricane tight end Garrett Mills, who established career-highs with 13 catches for 152 yards.

If Oklahoma pays extra attention to Lewis, it will not be a surprise to the Bruins.

“We expect people to start doubling him, and do those type of things defensively,” offensive coordinator Tom Cable said. “We would be surprised if teams don’t.... The key for us is to find things game-plan wise to put him in position to overcome that double coverage.”

But if the Sooners go overboard in taking away Lewis, Cable said UCLA’s other offensive weapons “have to make them pay the price somewhere else.”

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The last time UCLA faced Oklahoma, the Sooners won, 59-24, two years ago in Norman. The key to the game was UCLA’s inability to stop Antonio Perkins, who established an NCAA Division I-A record with 277 yards in punt returns.

On Saturday, it might be the Bruins’ punt-return units that prove to be the difference.

Behind Maurice Drew, who already has two returns for touchdowns this season, the Bruins have been dominant when they’ve forced teams to punt. They are averaging 32.3 yards a return with Drew averaging 36.5 yards and Chris Markey 24.

The Bruins also are averaging 22 yards on kickoff returns, with Markey averaging 31.2 yards.

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Drew left the sideline in the fourth quarter Saturday because his grandfather suffered a heart attack in the Rose Bowl stands and later died.... The Bruins could have a couple of injured players back this week in quarterback Ben Olson (hand), linebacker Wesley Walker (knee) and wide receivers Marcus Everett (shoulder) and Matthew Slater (leg).