Local eyes are smiling / USC gets its biggest victory over Notre Dame, 38-0, and UCLA pulls rank on California with a 30-21 upset

During the seconds it took cornerback Alterraun Verner to travel 76 yards and yank UCLA from the precipice of defeat, different thoughts came to those on the Bruins’ sideline Saturday.

“I was just thinking, ‘Please hurry, please hurry,’ ” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said.

Verner hit midfield alone.

“I thought, ‘Cooooool,’ ” quarterback Patrick Cowan said.

Verner glided into the end zone and was mobbed by teammates.

“Game over,” tailback Kahlil Bell said.

Verner’s interception return with 1 minute 33 seconds left did that, clinching a 30-21 victory over 10th-ranked California in front of 83,494 at the Rose Bowl, and more. The end zone lay before Verner the moment he stepped in front of the Bears’ DeSean Jackson and snagged the ball. The possibilities for the Bruins lay beyond that.

“All I thought was, ‘Don’t get caught from behind,’ ” Verner said.

That, too, is the thought the Bruins have today.

The victory left UCLA (5-2, 4-0) tied with Arizona State atop the Pacific 10 Conference standings. It came against a team that had been ranked No. 2 in the country last week and put embarrassing losses Notre Dame and Utah further in the background.

The math seems simple from here, yet it’s also an algebraic nightmare: win the rest of the games.

“There are no more freebies,” Bell said. “Those two games we lost were almost like freebies. Now it is all Pac-10 games ahead of us. Everything we play from now on will have consequences. We beat a pretty good Cal team. They came into our house and we beat them. The only thing that matters is being 4-0.”

The Bruins got there with some gritty work.

Bell churned out yardage to keep a potent Bears offense off the field. Bell, playing with a sore shoulder, gained 142 yards, including a 64-yard run in the second quarter to set up UCLA’s first touchdown.

The Bruins gained 201 yards rushing, the most given up by California (5-2, 2-2) this season.

“We ran the ball well, and we had to run the football against this team,” offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said.

Cowan, just back from a knee injury, came to the Bruins’ rescue again. He stepped in for the injured Ben Olson and managed the offense through a safe game plan that also had a little flair.

Cowan completed 18 of 27 passes for 161 yards. He threw one touchdown pass, as did wide receiver Brandon Breazell, who flipped a 29-yard scoring pass to Dominique Johnson on a gadget play to give the Bruins a 20-14 lead with 11:25 left in the third quarter.

“I guess we have a quarterback controversy now, me and Brandon,” Cowan said.

The rest was left to Walker’s defense, which held the Bears to 299 yards. California was averaging 434 yards coming into the game.

The Bears helped out. Last week, they allowed the clock to run out before they could kick a tying field goal in a 31-28 loss to Oregon State. Saturday, the Bears mismanaged the clock again, allowing 15 seconds to run off before Nate Longshore completed a 17-yard pass to Jackson for a first down at the Bruins’ 27-yard line with two seconds left in the first half.

Jordan Kay then missed a 44-yard field goal try.

“We need to get better in all phases,” Bears Coach Jeff Tedford said. “There is so much parity in this conference, anything can happen on any given week.”

The Bruins did a lot to make it happen. They held running back Justin Forsett to 76 yards rushing, only the second time he has been held under 100 yards. Longshore threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, but also had three passes intercepted.

“We wanted to take away the run first and make things one-dimensional,” Walker said.

That was accomplished by the time the Bears had their last chance. Kai Forbath kicked a 27-yard field goal to give UCLA a 23-21 lead with 3:08 left. That didn’t seem to be enough when Jahvid Best returned the kickoff 54 yards to give the Bears the ball on the UCLA 35-yard line.

But on third and five from the 30, Longshore fired a pass to Jackson into the flat, only to have Verner spoil the moment.

“We knew that was coming,” said Verner, who intercepted two passes. “We studied the films, so could see what they were going to do. The opportunity came and I took it.”

Now comes the tricky part: taking the next opportunity.

The Bruins have been in this spot before, but they have had difficulty following up what should be defining moments. After beating USC last year, UCLA flopped against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl.

UCLA plays at Washington State next Saturday. The Bruins have lost five of the last seven times they visited Pullman.

“When you have a victory like this, you want to enjoy it for a few hours,” Coach Karl Dorrell said. “I’m going to feel good today. Tomorrow is business as usual.”

Still, Dorrell said, “That was a very rewarding football game.”

One that left the Bruins with visions of their future.

“The sky’s the limit for us now,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “The way college football works this season, if we win out, you might still see us in the national championship game.”

--

chris.foster@latimes.com

--

KEYS TO THE GAME

Chris Foster’s keys to the game and how UCLA measured up:

1. Get it; keep it. The Bruins controlled chunks of the game by keeping the ball on the ground. Tailback Kahlil Bell rushed for 142 yards. The Bruins also forced four turnovers, including two interceptions in the last two minutes.

2. Protect the quarterback. UCLA’s Patrick Cowan has had knee and hamstring injuries this season, but he was efficient all game against Cal, completing 18 of 27 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown.

3. Make (and stop) big plays. The Bears’ DeSean Jackson scored two touchdowns, but it was the Bruins who made big plays when needed, including Alterraun Verner’s 76-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:33 left.