Big Plays Carry Shaky UCLA

If this was UCLA’s final “tuneup” before Pacific-10 Conference play, the Bruins may want to keep their Automobile Club of Southern California cards handy, a set of jumper cables in the trunk and a tow truck on call for next week’s game against Washington.

UCLA interrupted a night of offensive ineptitude with two big plays, one for a tiebreaking touchdown, and relied on its stingy defense to do the rest in a less-than-scintillating 20-10 victory over San Diego State before 48,690 in the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

With the score tied, 3-3, early in the third quarter, Bruin quarterback Drew Olson hit Junior Taylor with a 41-yard touchdown pass, and interceptions by Spencer Havner in the third and C.J. Niusulu in the fourth set up easy Bruin scores, as UCLA (2-2) pulled away for the victory and improved to 18-0-1 all-time against San Diego State.

Olson finished with solid numbers, completing 18 of 28 passes for a career-high 258 yards and two touchdowns, seven of those passes going to Taylor for 110 yards and five to Craig Bragg for 83 yards, including a 54-yard strike in the fourth period.

Olson also threw 11 yards to Ryan Smith, who made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone for a touchdown and a 20-3 lead with 13 minutes 54 seconds left.

But Olson fumbled three times, losing all three, and the Bruins were penalized nine times for 113 yards, several of them killing drives; one was a personal foul for delivering a punch, which resulted in the late-game ejection of defensive tackle Rodney Leisle, who, as a result, will have to sit out the first half of next Saturday’s game.

“Stupid mistakes, a lack of concentration, people doing stupid things, including me,” said Leisle, summing up the Bruins’ shortcomings. “It kills the team. It kills drives.... I got caught retaliating. It’s one of those things that happens, but I happened to get caught.”

Leisle’s mental mistake was a rare pockmark on a UCLA defense that harassed San Diego State quarterback Matt Dlugolecki all night, limiting the Aztec sophomore to 110 yards passing on 19 of 37 attempts.

The Bruins sacked Dlugolecki three times for a loss of 16 yards, had eight tackles for loss and two key interceptions, and limited San Diego State to 230 total yards. Linebackers Justin London (11) and Brandon Chillar (10) were UCLA’s leading tacklers.

“We played well, but there were a lot of stupid penalties,” cornerback Matt Ware said. “It could have been a lot worse for us.”

One possession after Olson scrambled to his right and threw long down the right sideline to Taylor for a touchdown, the UCLA quarterback fumbled after being hit by Heath Farwell. Brandon Rager recovered, giving San Diego State the ball on the UCLA 29-yard line with 7:14 left in the third quarter and the Aztecs trailing, 10-3.

With San Diego State in excellent position for a potential game-tying score, Dlugolecki threw a pass right into the hands of Havner, who raced 50 yards with the interception to the Aztec 28. Seven plays later, Justin Medlock kicked a 25-yard field goal for a 13-3 UCLA lead.

On San Diego State’s next play, Dlugolecki tried to dump a short pass over the middle, but this one went right to Niusulu, giving UCLA the ball at the Aztec 23. Marcedes Lewis dropped a potential touchdown pass, but Olson found Smith for the 11-yard scoring strike that gave UCLA a 17-point cushion.

San Diego State drove 80 yards on 10 plays, with Michael Franklin scoring on a seven-yard run to pull the Aztecs (3-2) within 20-10 with 6:57 remaining, but that merely made the final score respectable for San Diego State.

The Bruins’ second-half surge took some of the sting out of a first half -- and especially a first quarter -- that UCLA would like to wipe off the game film.

To say the first quarter was ugly for UCLA would not be doing the word “ugly” justice.

UCLA was penalized five times for 58 yards, which was more than the 50 yards the Bruins had in total offense, and lost two fumbles. San Diego State provided a gift opportunity on the opening kickoff, which Aztec return man Jason Van fumbled right to Medlock, who was all alone around the Aztec 30.

But instead of simply falling on the ball, Medlock tried to scoop it up and run. The kicker fumbled the ball right back to San Diego State. UCLA, it turns out, was just getting warmed up. One 14-yard gain was negated by not one but two penalties, pass interference and a personal foul, resulting in a 30-yard loss.

A 22-yard pass to Smith on the Bruins’ next possession was called back because of offensive interference, and Bragg’s 53-yard punt return was nullified by an illegal block. The quarter ended -- fittingly -- with Olson fumbling a snap and San Diego State recovering.

J.C. Mejia’s 25-yard field goal gave the Aztecs a 3-0 lead with 12:32 left in the second quarter. The UCLA offense finally found its stride after the ensuing kickoff, driving 68 yards in 13 plays, with Medlock kicking a 27-yard field goal to tie the score, 3-3, with 7:04 left in the first half.

“We were able to get some things going in spurts during the game,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said. “We’re still improving, but we’ve got a lot of improving to go.... It’s nice to see the offense make some plays. The defense played well. But we also made some stupid mistakes that kept them in there.... I know what our potential is. We’re not close to our potential yet, but this was a positive step.”

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Mike DiGiovanna’s keys to the game, and how the Bruins measured up:

Stop Lynell Hamilton. The Aztecs’ freshman running back picked up 62 yards rushing in the first half, but was limited to 25 yards in the second half. Most important, his long run was 11 yards.

Establish the run. The Bruins picked up only 65 yards rushing, but Manuel White was effective in short-yardage situations. Three times he picked up first downs on third-down runs. He finished with 48 yards in 16 carries to lead the Bruins.

Have a Kluwe. After surrendering three touchdowns on punt returns last week against Oklahoma, the Bruins showed improvement on coverage of Chris Kluwe’s punts. Freshman receiver Joe Cowan, inserted to add speed getting downfield, responded with a first-half tackle for no gain. Freshman Mil’Von James, another fast athlete, added a tackle in the third quarter.