UCLA has no problem with Houston, 37-6

Houston came along at the right time.

UCLA needed a patsy, a team that had no chance of winning no matter how poorly the Bruins played, and the Cougars stepped right up.

The Bruins’ 37-6 victory at the Rose Bowl will look impressive in the books, especially to those on the East Coast who probably passed on the 10:30 p.m. start. But this was lurching along to the inevitable.

There were flashes of the type of offense and defense that has pushed the Bruins back into the polls. But this was more of a shrug. The 22nd-ranked Bruins (3-0) did enough against winless Houston (0-3).

Brett Hundley threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Johnathan Franklin didn’t break the 200-yard barrier, but he did grind out 110 yards. UCLA’s defense came up with six turnovers, including Eric Kendricks’ 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

All in all a somewhat satisfying evening. Still...

“This was an ugly win, we made a lot of mistakes,” Franklin said. “We have a lot to work on. We haven’t maximized our potential.”

UCLA had a spotlight moment a week ago, upsetting 16th-ranked Nebraska at the Rose Bowl. The previous seven times Bruins had beaten a ranked team, they lost the next game five times.

“We don’t take a break because we’re ranked,” defensive Andrew Abbott said this week. “This program has been losing for too long. Guys are tired of it.”

That had been the message this week. Coach Jim Mora “talked to us about not having a lull,” receiver Joseph Fauria said. “We’ve had wins like Nebraska in the past and we had a lull the next weekend.”

Mora didn’t get too excited about the victory.

“We’re still trying to put it all together as a football team,” he said. “You take a win any way you can get it.”

As for the players, “They are happy we won,” Mora said, “but I don’t think they are satisfied with it as a team.”

UCLA finished with 567 yards. Hundley completed 27 of 42 passes. Houston quarterback David Piland was held in check, as he completed 28 of 60 passes but had five interceptions. Sheldon Price led the take-away-brigade, intercepting three passes.

The Bruins were never in any danger of losing.

“It’s all about exponential growth,” Fauria said. “It’s like a graph, it keeps going up, not up and down like a roller coaster.”

It has been a wild ride for UCLA fans.

The Bruins were ranked for the first time third week of the 2007 season. The strange got stranger.

First, defensive end Datone Jones caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Hundley for a 14-0 UCLA lead. Then, USC was beaten by Stanford, leaving the Bruins as the only undefeated college football team in Los Angeles.

“We can be great, it’s on us,” Abbott said this week.

They weren’t great Saturday, merely good enough.

The Bruins came into the game third in the nation, averaging nearly 650 yards a game. Franklin and Hundley were unstoppable through two weeks. The Bruins collected tons more acreage Saturday, but it was tough at times.

The Bruins turned the ball over three times in the first half on two fumbles and an interception. All three turnovers ended UCLA drives in Houston territory. UCLA also lost a touchdown in the fourth quarter when a Torian White holding penalty wiped out a scoring pass to Shaquelle Evans.

Houston helped the Bruins get off to a fast start. On the second play, Kendricks scooped up a lateral and went 23 yards for a touchdown 16 seconds into the game.

The Bruins, in fact, didn’t have an “offensive” player score in the first half. Hundley capped a 90-yard drive — which was aided by two key penalties — by floating a pass into the end zone to Jones, who had a cameo as a tight end.

Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked the first of his three field goals, a 35-yarder, in the second quarter, and the Bruins had a snug 17-0 lead.

From there the Bruins did enough.

“I’m just happy for us,” safety Tevin McDonald said. “This is what we set out to do. We’re 3-0. We worked hard to be in this position. I’m proud of us.”

chris.foster@latimes.com

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