Ebell Makes Sure UCLA Enjoys Breeze in Desert

TUCSON —  On a night freshmen quarterbacks Drew Olson and Matt Moore made clear neither is willing to settle for second-best, UCLA was delighted with its ascent to a share of third place in the Pacific 10 Conference standings.

The Bruins are bowl bound after a shockingly easy 37-7 victory over hapless Arizona in front of a taciturn homecoming crowd of 36,614 Saturday that by the third quarter began repairing to the restaurants and bars that line the streets near Arizona Stadium.

There was little reason to stay, not even for UCLA fans. Both quarterbacks had distinguished themselves. The Bruins were well on their way to improving to 7-3 overall, 4-2 and even with Arizona State in the Pac-10.

And as any streak-smart Bruin follower knew, there were several meaningful accomplishments. The word on the streaks was as follows:

* Tyler Ebell rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns in 22 carries, giving him more than 100 yards in six consecutive games. His nifty cutback move on a 36-yard run in his first carry made Arizona defenders look as if they had large auto parts tucked in their socks.

The freshman tailback scored on a 22-yard run in the first quarter, a 19-yard run in the second and had 111 yards by halftime. He watched most of the second half from the bench.

“The holes were huge on our sweeps early,” Ebell said. “It was nice to see other guys get in there and run. It reminded me of high school.”

* Neither Olson nor Moore has had a pass intercepted all season. Olson, the starter, completed seven of 12 for 111 yards and a touchdown. Moore played the second quarter and some of the fourth, completing six of eight for 90 yards.

“There is no difference, they both put the ball on the money,” said receiver Tab Perry, who caught two from Olson for 48 yards and one from Moore for 41.

* Nate Fikse made three field goals, including a career-longest 51-yarder, stretching his string to 10 in a row in three games since taking over kicking duties.

He also dropped a punt inside the 10-yard line. And only one of his kickoffs was returned.

* Dave Ball pitched in on one of the six Bruin sacks, marking the eighth consecutive game he has had a sack. His twin, Mat, also notched one, helping reduce the Wildcat rushing total to 12 yards.

* Arizona (3-7, 0-6) extended a streak of its own, losing its sixth game in a row for the first time in school history. The once-vaunted Wildcat flex defense was as pliable as putty, giving up 443 yards.

“We just got our tails kicked in the second half,” Arizona Coach John Mackovic said. “When you can’t stop them, like we did in the second half, that really hurts.”

UCLA’s third victory in a row gave the Bruins the distinction of being only the third team in school history to win five road games in a season. The fact that it was one-sided made it no less important.

“This was the biggest game of the season,” said running back Manuel White, who returned from an injury that had sidelined him for five games and scored a third-quarter touchdown.

“If we had lost, it would have ruined the whole season, everything we had accomplished. This was huge.”

UCLA will get an invitation to one of the six bowl games guaranteed to Pac-10 teams. Even if the Bruins lose their last two regular-season games -- to USC and Washington State -- they can do no worse than a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl or Silicon Valley Bowl.

“Our whole season hinged on this game,” defensive tackle Steve Morgan said. “We didn’t want a letdown. We played really hard, right from the first play.”

UCLA seized control early. Ebell dashed 36 yards in his first carry and 22 yards in his second, scoring a touchdown 2:13 into the game. Olson connected with Perry for 37 yards on the first play of the next Bruin possession, which led to a 39-yard field goal by Fikse.

Arizona showed some life, marching 71 yards, but came up empty when Spencer Havner blocked a 27-yard field-goal attempt. Havner, a freshman linebacker with a knack for making big plays, caused a fumble near midfield a few minutes later that UCLA converted into a touchdown and 17-0 lead.

Moore replaced Olson before the 53-yard drive and enabled the Bruins to overcome three penalties by connecting with Perry for 40 yards on third and 42. Coach Bob Toledo called an option play on fourth down and Moore pitched to Ebell, who sprinted 19 yards for a touchdown and 17-0 lead.

Nic Costa, a redshirt freshman, replaced Jason Johnson at quarterback for Arizona and a penalty and a sack by Ball and Morgan pushed the Wildcats back to their eight on third down.

Costa, a left-hander who scrambles well, eluded linebacker Marcus Reese in the end zone and threw on the run to Andrae Thurman, who caught the ball at midfield and shook off Ricky Manning for a 92-yard touchdown, the longest pass play in the Pac-10 this season.

Moore wasn’t finished, making accurate throws to Jon Dubravac for 19 yards and Craig Bragg for 22 on the two first plays of the next Bruin possession and setting up a 51-yard field goal by Fikse and a 20-7 halftime lead.

Olson returned in the third quarter and directed three consecutive scoring drives. The first was set up by a 20-yard punt return by Bragg, who then took a short pass by Olson and flew up the sideline for a 33-yard touchdown.

White capped a 61-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run, the rout was on and the stands began to empty.

“No question this [loss] hurts the most, in front of our fans, in our stadium, on homecoming,” Mackovic said.

UCLA returns home for a respite, a bye before its rivalry game against USC.

“We’ve gone hard for 14 weeks and we all need a break,” Toledo said. “I couldn’t be prouder. There was not a letdown. This team is playing hard.”