BRUINS CLAW ANOTHER WIN UCLA RALLIES TO BEAT SUN DEVILS UCLA 38, ARIZONA ST. 31.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

PASADENA - UCLA hasn't found a hole it couldn't dig itself out of this season, but this is getting ridiculous. What's next, the Grand Canyon?

The Bruins, who've been behind in every game they've played this year, trailed Arizona State by three touchdowns, were without tailback DeShaun Foster, who suffered a broken right hand, and were about to kiss their Rose Bowl hopes goodbye. And all this before the calendar turned to October.

But tailbacks Jermaine Lewis and Akil Harris came off the far end of the bench, the Bruins started blocking and tackling and they survived Arizona State, 38-31, in an Arena League, er, Pac-10 Conference game Saturday night before a crowd of 68,113 at the Rose Bowl.

The victory keeps the No. 15 Bruins (4-1, 1-1) in the thick of the Rose Bowl race.

``I guess that's been our trend this year,'' UCLA linebacker Ryan Nece said. ``I don't think that it's something we like to do.''

At the center of the high drama - eight turnovers, three second-half touchdowns of more than 50 yards - were two quarterbacks who didn't expect to be there a week ago: UCLA's Cory Paus and ASU's Griffin Goodman.

Goodman, who came off the bench to rally the Sun Devils to a dramatic last-second victory over the Bruins last year, nearly did it again even though he started the week as their No. 3 quarterback.

Goodman, who replaced injured starter Ryan Kealy (knee) in the third period, rallied the Sun Devils (3-1, 0-1) to 10 points and saw his desperation bomb knocked down at the goal line by Audie Attar on the final play.

Paus, however, was given the start when he returned to practice Monday after missing four weeks with a separated shoulder he suffered on the first play of the season opener.

He showed little rust, completing 17 of 30 passes for 267 yards, one interception and two touchdowns - both third-quarter passes to Freddie Mitchell.

The oft-injured Paus also did it under duress, getting sacked five times and taking several more hits after he threw the ball. Paus said his shoulder hurt, but it didn't show.

``I'm extremely proud of that young man,'' UCLA coach Bob Toledo said, nodding at Paus. ``His fingers were tingling a little bit. Cory threw the ball extremely well under a lot of pressure.''

It was also a big night for the rest of the Bruins' replacements.

Harris and Lewis, neither who carried the ball last week, combined to fill in seamlessly for Foster, who was hurt in the first quarter and taken to the locker room where X-rays revealed the break. He'll be re-examined Monday.

Lewis had his biggest game in two years, rushing for 104 yards on 17 carries. On the first play of the second half, he raced 57 yards for a touchdown, nearly doubling the longest run of his career, to cut ASU's lead to 21-14.

``It was a mixture of feelings,'' Lewis said when he heard about Foster's injury. ``I'm a senior and I've been taking the leadership role since the beginning of the year. DeShaun knows he can count on us and we took advantage of our opportunity.''

Harris, a redshirt freshman from Monrovia, entered Saturday with one career carry for one yard. He eclipsed that with a 23-yard scoring run on his first carry, which put UCLA on the scoreboard with 2:38 left in the first half.

Also stepping up from the second team was Attar, who replaced starting strong safety Marques Anderson, who was out after undergoing undisclosed minor surgery on Thursday. He finished with a team-high eight tackles and, though he struggled to cover tight end Todd Heap on occasion, Attar did break up two passes.

Joe Hunter also bolstered the secondary, replacing Jason Bell (hamstring) in the second half.

In the first half the Bruins played like replacements, indeed.

Four turnovers, a bungled fake punt on fourth-and-22 and their decision to run out the final minute were enough for the crowd to chase them to the locker room with boos.

``The difference in the second half was that we didn't turn the ball over,'' Paus said.

In the first half, Mike Williams, a freshman from Lakewood Mayfair, blitzed the Bruins for two touchdowns on runs of 39 and a 5 yards. He carried 10 times, but only once in the second half due to an ankle sprain, and finished with 97 yards.

Kealy, the fifth-year senior, riddled the Bruins defense in the first half. But before he left in the third quarter with 199 yards and one touchdown on 13-of-25 passing, he threw a ball that was intercepted by Hunter to set up Harris' 7-yard scoring run to tie it 21-21 with 10:28 left in the third.

After Mitchell's first scoring pass, on third-and-goal from the 8, put UCLA ahead, 28-21, ASU answered quickly. Goodman found Richard Williams behind cornerback Ricky Manning for an 60-yard scoring pass.

But Paus and Mitchell answered with an almost identical play, giving the Bruins the lead for good, 35-28, with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

``We spotted them 21 points and still came back to win the game,'' Toledo said. ``I wish we hadn't had so many turnovers in the first half, but the game was exciting until the end.''

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2 photos

Photo: (1) DeShaun Goster runs for a first down during UCLA's 38-31 victory against Arizona State on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

(2) Sean Phillips, left, sacks Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy during UCLA's 38-31 victory.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer