BRUINS' LUCK RUNS OUT WITH 27 SECONDS LEFT, IRISH SCORE TO DEFEAT UCLA NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 20, UCLA 17.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The defense was playing marvelously, and although the offense went stagnant, it did enough to provide a lead in the closing minutes of what appeared to be the biggest win during coach Karl Dorrell's tenure.

Then, the Bruins' defense fell flat, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn made time with his feet and someone awoke the echoes that were silent for more than three hours.

Quinn led the Fighting Irish 80 yards in 35 seconds without a timeout, scrambling and pump-faking on his last pass before locating receiver Jeff Samardzija 15 yards downfield. Samardzija did the rest, outracing linebacker Christian Taylor before juking safety Dennis Keyes at the 15-yard line to score on a 45-yard pass with 27 seconds remaining as No.10 Notre Dame stunned UCLA 20-17 Saturday in front of 80,795 mostly delirious fans at Notre Dame Stadium.

In the end, the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish (6-1) were left sprinting around the field while the Bruins (4-3) spent the evening trying to clear their heads from the fog after the first meeting between the schools in 42years.

``That's the first time I lost a game in that fashion in my life, and it hurts like hell,'' UCLA cornerback Rodney Van said in an eerily quiet locker room. ``As you can see, our team is distraught over this. I'm distraught. It's one of those games that hurts like hell to lose because you had a great team down all the way until seconds left in the game, and then you give them the game back.''

Samardzija's catch and run may have secured a BCS spot for the Irish, considering they play Navy, North Carolina, Air Force and Army before finishing the season Nov.25 at USC.

``Here is the thing: Good teams win games like that,'' Irish coach Charlie Weis said. ``Good teams make a play at the end of the game to win. I'm not going to feel miserable about this win, I promise you.''

UCLA, meanwhile, fell to 0-3 on the road, and blew a fourth-quarter lead for the second time this season. The Bruins also lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2004 season. Dorrell, who is in his fourth season, is now 0-9 against ranked teams on the road.

But none of the previous losses was this emotionally taxing.

``We were there all the way to the final minute and didn't find a way to finish,'' Dorrell said. ``Disappointing. I've never lost a game like this, in this fashion. I'm proud of how our kids played. (They) played hard. That's really all I can take from it.''

Until the winning drive, Quinn had been battered for five sacks as defensive ends Justin Hickman (threesacks) and Bruce Davis (two sacks) found a home in Notre Dame's backfield, and the Bruins defense controlled the line of scrimmage.

The Irish's previous series had ended when Quinn was stopped on a fourth-and-1 sneak with 2:20 to play on UCLA's 35-yard line, but the Bruins couldn't get the first down to run out the clock.

Three straight runs by Chris Markey resulted in 1 yard, forcing UCLA to punt. It was indicative of UCLA's offensive woes throughout the second half. The Bruins had 49 yards of total offense after halftime and for the game finished with 26 yards rushing on 28 attempts.

``There wasn't any running room,'' said Markey, who rushed for 32 yards on 19 carries. ``The defense was playing great. In the second half, they came out and stepped their game up. We executed, but there was just nothing there.''

Following UCLA's last punt, Notre Dame took over on its own 20 with 1:02 remaining and no timeouts. That is when defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker altered his game-long strategy. He opted not to blitz, and Quinn, with time, connected with Samardzija for 21 yards and David Grimes for 14.

On the third play, Quinn had plenty of time, moved around in the pocket and finally found Samardzija, who caught the ball, cut toward the right sideline and then cut back across the field to avoid Keyes and stroll into the end zone as the Irish went ahead 20-17.

``I looked to other side and saw Samardzija break a tackle, and he was running down the sideline and into the end zone,'' said Van, UCLA's junior cornerback. ``We have to play through every second. We played a hard-fought game all the way down to 27 seconds left in the game, until he got that play. Other than that, I don't see anything we did wrong all day.''

Walker said he was going to blitz on the next play.

``I didn't really want to blitz (on the first three plays) to give up a big play,'' Walker said. ``I was going to go out three coverages with a four-man rush, then I was going to get to the pressure. I felt we weren't getting there with four, and then it hit. The guy scores on that last play. I never got a chance to get to my pressures.''

Before the final drive, Quinn wasn't terribly impressive, completing 27 of 45 passes, but he finished with 304 yards and two touchdowns to offset a running game that netted 41 yards.

Samardzija (118 yards, two touchdowns) and Grimes (79 yards) each had eight catches. UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan was 16 of 32 for 217 yards. He threw an interception but also had second-quarter touchdown passes to Marcus Everett (54 yards) and tight end Williams Snead (36 yards) as the Bruins took a 14-10 lead into the half. But UCLA failed to gain a first down on six of its eight second-half possessions.

``I really think I could have played a lot better. A lot of things could have been different,'' Cowan said.

``I'm taking a lot of responsibility for this, if not all of it. I could have done so much better. I could have gone to this read, or this person on that coverage. I thought I could play a whole lot better.''

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, 6 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Notre Dame's Jeff Samardzija eludes the UCLA defense on his way to scoring the winning touchdown.

(2) UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan attempts to recover the ball after fumbling during Saturday's game.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

(3) Notre Dame players, including quarterback Brady Quinn, center, celebrate after defeating the Bruins in South Bend, Ind.

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

(4 -- color) UCLA's Bruce Davis, front, and Dennis Keyes hang their heads after Notre Dame takes the late lead

(5) UCLA wide receiver Marcus Everett outruns Notre Dame's Joe Brockingston for a second-quarter score.

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

(6) Jeff Samardzija, Notre Dame wide receiver

Box:

(1) BY THE NUMBERS

(2) THEY SAID IT

(3) HERO

(4) GOAT

(5) STAT OF THE GAME

(6) UCLA LOG