10/24/98 - 10:08PM ET - Click reload often for latest version

Ucla vs. California

Extended Box&nbsp Game Story&nbsp
Oct 24, 1998

NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- UCLA (2) 14 7 0 7 28 CALIFORNIA 7 2 7 0 16 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QTR: CAL - TD, SALEEM MUHAMMAD 2 YD RUN (IGNACIO BRACHE KICK), 2:08 UCLA - TD, BRIAN POLI-DIXON 17 YD PASS FROM CADE MCNOWN (CHRIS SAILER KICK), 8:24 UCLA - TD, BRIAN POLI-DIXON 35 YD PASS FROM CADE MCNOWN (CHRIS SAILER KICK), 11:34 2ND QTR: CAL - SAFETY, 3:15 UCLA - TD, JERMAINE LEWIS 13 YD RUN (CHRIS SAILER KICK), 11:38 3RD QTR: CAL - TD, JOEL YOUNG 2 YD PASS FROM JUSTIN VEDDER (IGNACIO BRACHE KICK), 14:24 4TH QTR: UCLA - TD, JON DUBRAVAC 30 YD PASS FROM JERMAINE LEWIS (CHRIS SAILER KICK), 1:07


Extended Box

NCAAF 1 2 3 4 F - - - - -- Ucla (2) 14 7 0 7 28 California 7 2 7 0 16 FINAL

California-Muhammad 2 run (Brache kick) Ucla-Poli-dixon 17 pass from Mcnown (Sailer kick) Ucla-Poli-dixon 35 pass from Mcnown (Sailer kick) California-Safety Ucla-Lewis 13 run (Sailer kick) California-Young 2 pass from Vedder (Brache kick) Ucla-Dubravac 30 pass from Lewis (Sailer kick)

Ucla California First downs 24 17 Rushed-yards 41-169 43-116 Passing yards 212 108 Sacked-yards lost 3-21 5-36 Return yards 54 11 Passes 16-28-0 14-29-1 Punts 6-36.2 9-45.1 Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-1 Penalties-yards 12-113 6-80 Time of possession 30:04 29:56

Individual Statistics RUSHING: Ucla-Lewis 18-60, Mcnown 12-57, Price 6-56, K Brown 5-minus 4. California-Fields 27-118, Muhammad 3-14, Oliver 4-9, J White 2-minus 1, Clemons 5-minus 7, Vedder 2-minus 17.

PASSING: Ucla-Mcnown 15-27-0-182, Lewis 1-1-0-30. California-Vedder 13-22-1-109, Clemons 1-7-0-minus 1.

RECEIVING: Ucla-Farmer 5-52, Poli-dixon 4-78, Melsby 2-23, Neufeld 2-9, Dubravac 1-30, Price 1-22, K Brown 1-minus 2. California-Douglas 10-73, Oneal 1-31, Pierre 1-8, Young 1-2, Fields 1-minus 6.

Att: 55,000


Game Story

BERKELEY, California (Ticker) -- This time, No. 2 UCLA didn't need to sweat out a last-minute victory.

UCLA's defense came up huge with two goal-line stands and tailback Jermaine Lewis tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to freshman Jon Dubravac early in the fourth quarter, powering the Bruins to a 28-16 Pac-10 Conference victory over California.

The Bruins (6-0, 4-0 Pac-10), who needed overtime last weekend to hold off Oregon, stretched the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games despite scoring less than 40 points for the first time this season.

"It was a tough game," said UCLA quarterback Cade McNown. "Their defense played us extremely tough, and I'm just excited to get away with a win. We really had to fight out there. We made enough plays to win and I'm really happy about that."

UCLA was tested by the Pac-10's top defense, but California (4-3, 2-2) hurt itself by scoring only one touchdown on four trips inside the red zone.

The Golden Bears turned it over on a fumble and interception deep in UCLA territory in the first half before backup quarterback Samuel Clemons was stopped for no gain on a 4th-and-goal from the 1 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

"We came up short twice and you can't do that against a team like UCLA," said Cal coach Tom Holmoe. "They are No. 2 in the country for a very good reason. I give credit to the UCLA players and coaches for not panicking."

McNown completed 15-of-27 passes for 182 yards and two TDs while Lewis rushed for 60 yards and a score on 18 carries. The Bruins were held to 381 yards, 116 below their season average.

"We're ranked second in the nation and we continued the longest winning streak in the country," said UCLA coach Bob Toledo. "I think the knockout punch was when Jermaine Lewis threw the halfback option for a touchdown."

Justin Vedder was 13-of-22 for 109 yards for California and Marcus Fields gained 118 yards on 27 carries.

California took a 7-0 lead on Saleem Muhammad's two-yard touchdown run just 2:08 into the contest, but McNown responded with TD passes of 17 and 35 yards to Brian Poli-Dixon to give the Bruins a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.

After linebacker Sekou Sanyika stopped UCLA fullback Durrell Price in the end zone for a safety that pulled the Golden Bears within 14-9 early in the second quarter, Lewis scored on a 13-yard TD run to give the Bruins a 21-9 lead.

With less than a minute remaining in the first half, California's Joshua White tried to go over the top on a 2nd-and-goal from the 1, but coughed up the ball after being hit by linebacker Robert Thomas. Safety Larry Atkins recovered the fumble and the Bruins were able to run out the clock. Atkins also had an interception in the first quarter.

"I got hit with a helmet on it," explained White. "It happened so fast. I really can't explain it. It's a play that shouldn't happen and hopefully it won't happen again."

"Our team has great character," added Toledo. "We realize that you have to play all four quarters and all 60 minutes. I don't feel lucky. I feel like we're a pretty good football team."

California threatened again in the third quarter as Vedder's pass to Dameane Douglas gave the Golden Bears a 1st-and-goal from the 1 in the third quarter. After two rushes sandwiched around an incomplete pass gained no yards, the bigger Clemons replaced Vedder for the fourth-down play. But the 210-pound freshman was stopped cold by the middle of the UCLA line.

"We wanted to run a quarterback sneak, and we felt that Sam was going to stronger and able to squirm around a little bit more if he needed to," said Holmoe. "It was a short distance and it was a matter of pushing them off the ball. There was no reason we should not have gotten that."

California finally scored again on Vedder's two-yard TD pass to Joel Young with 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But Lewis gave the Bruins some breathing room by hitting a wide-open Dubravac 1:07 into the final period.

"We've been working on that in practice and I showed coach I could throw it, so he gave me a shot," said Lewis. "It worked out. I'm just real happy that Dubravac went out there and grabbed it. I knew his eyes were really big and I didn't know if he was going to drop it or not."

The Golden Bears dropped their second game to a top-five team this season, falling to then-No. 3 Nebraska, 24-3, on September 12th.

UCLA won its fourth straight against California and increased its lead in the series to 44-23-1.

"Cal wants to beat us," said McNown. "They may want to knock us off, but it's also about Cal and UCLA. There's some deep-seeded rivalry there. I think there was a lot at stake in this game and we just played it that way."